Change is Good Right?
by Lu Lu-Chan25
Summary: After failing the Genin Exam for the second time, Naruto is found in the woods crying by none other than Hinata Hyuuga. Naruto decides to make a change. And he isn't the only one. Follow the teens in their quest to change and change the minds of others.
1. Getting Serious

**Hello Everyone! Lu Lu-Chan is here! I have decided to write a NaruHina story, due to the lack of well written NaruHina stories. Do not get me wrong. There are several I find that I thoroughly enjoy, and are well written. But there aren't very many. So I decided to write a NaruHina story.**

**I want to thank Kyuubi123 for reading my story and giving me his input. I'd also like to thank my new Beta, Hinatasgreatestfan.**

**Disclaimer: DOES NOT OWN! Wish I did...I would have warped this manga/anime so badly!**

**Please enjoy everyone!**

_**Getting Serious**_

The sounds of laughter, crying, screaming, and some children shouting in complete joy were being shared around the academy. Children were hugging their parents and laughing; some were crying tears of joy. What was being shared by the children and their parents was a very touching moment: these children had finally reached Genin. And even the few children that did fail, they were cheered on by their parents or siblings that they would make Genin next time. The celebration in front of the academy was in full swing, then their eyes fell on one child that failed the Genin Exams. They all stared, or rather glared, at him as he walked through the crowd of families. Uzumaki Naruto was that one failed ninja.

Naruto had golden sunshine hair, sun-kissed skin, exotic whisker marks sweeping across his cheeks, and bright blue eyes that put the sky to shame. However, his eyes were downcast and had lost their shine. Tears threatened to spill down his tanned chubby cheeks. He could feel the hatred piercing him through their eyes. He couldn't take the hateful looks anymore and broke into a run.

A pair of lavender, pupil-less eyes watched the boy run. The owner of the eyes was browsing through a little open-air market when she spotted Naruto in the crowd. She gasped slightly when he ran, pressed her two fingers together nervously out of habit, and stared at the vendor's table in front of her. She turned away from the table and began to follow Naruto's path.

Once Naruto was far enough away, he finally let those tears fall. He was so disappointed in himself. This was the second blasted time he failed that test! All because of that damned Clone Jutsu! Naruto kicked the dirt underneath his feet out of rage. He walked further into town, receiving more hateful glares. Many of the villagers cursed and yelled at him as he passed. Some even spat at him. He took off towards the forests, where the training grounds resided. He ran and ran until he came to a clearing that had one very large, padded training log.

He just seemed to stare at it. He let out an angry scream and began to punch the log with everything he had. With anger, hatred, sorrow, pity, any negative feeling he had, he was releasing it into this log. He cried and cried as he punched, but it just didn't seem to make him feel any better. With a half-hearted punch, he fell to his knees and sobbed.

Hinata was standing behind a tree, watching her crush cry and punch the defenseless log. She felt bad for him. She wanted to go help him. Reassure him. But she didn't have enough confidence in herself to even take a step forward. She hid amongst the trees watching the blond cry his heart out on the cold dirt. After watching him cry for what seemed like hours, Hinata watched as Naruto stood up and wiped his tears away. She thought he was going to leave the training grounds and get some ramen or go home. She was taken by slight surprise when Naruto started taking deep breaths before striking the padded log. He was striking the log with all the strength he had. Soon the punches turned into kicks. Soon he was performing combinations of punches, palm thrusts, and a variety of kicks.

Hinata's eyes followed every move Naruto made. His moves were far from elegant or graceful, but Hinata still found it irresistible to watch. She stood there behind the trees watching him for hours, training against the padded log.

Dusk was quickly approaching when Naruto collapsed from exhaustion. He laid on his back, his eyes squinted shut, gasping for air. He could tell, tomorrow he was going to be hurting. Bad. Naruto heard a strange noise, after he had fallen. He slowly sat up and turned towards the trees. "Who's there?" he called.

Hinata was still hiding behind the trees, with her hands over her mouth. She had gasped aloud when Naruto fell backwards. She started to panic and started walking backwards. She froze when she stepped on a dry twig, hearing it snap.

Naruto stood up, the soreness in his muscles already taking effect. "Show yourself!" he demanded, having a kunai at the ready.

Hinata looked slightly afraid. What if he yelled at her? What if he called her a freak?

"If you don't come to me, I'll come to you!" he threatened.

Hinata took a deep breath and slowly approached Naruto. "He...H-Hello N-N-Naruto-kun..." Hinata said in a quiet voice. Her face was a rose color, and she was fiddling with the hem of her jacket.

Naruto looked at Hinata and blinked. "Wait...Aren't you that girl from that one clan?" He had to think a moment. He placed a finger on his forehead, and squinted his eyes. He still couldn't think of which clan it was. "I got nuthin'!" he said with a sigh.

Hinata blinked. He didn't know the Hyuuga Clan? Hinata couldn't help but giggle but quickly placed her hands over her mouth. "I-I'm s-sorry N-Naruto-kun!"

"What's so funny?" Naruto blinked.

Hinata pressed her fingers together. "W-Well...Y-You d-don't know wh-wh-which clan I-I'm from. I-It's one o-of the most f-f-famous in K-Konoha," she said quietly.

"Well, you aren't from the Uchiha Clan! They're all dead, except for Sasuke-teme. Besides, before the Uchihas were killed, they didn't have those eyes like you have," he confirmed.

Hinata slowly nodded. "I-I'm from the H-Hyuuga Clan. M-My eyes a-a-are m-my clan's K-Kekkei G-Genkai."

"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed. "I learned about the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan from the academy, and from Sasuke-teme bragging about how he'll one day obtain the Sharingan," he said, mocking Sasuke.

Hinata giggled at Naruto's antics. Naruto smiled. "So...Uh...why were you watching me?" Naruto asked.

Hinata grabbed the hem of her shirt and fiddled with it. She wasn't sure how to answer that.

"Well?" he asked crossing his arms, tapping his foot impatiently.

Hinata swallowed hard, and took a deep breathing before speaking. "I...I s-saw you i-in town. Y-You looked...You l-looked so upset. I f-followed you t-to see if y-you were okay..." She said looking at her feet. "I'm sorry..." she added, bowing to him.

Naruto stared at Hinata in shock. No one had ever come to check up on him if he was upset. And she was bowing to him? This was something Naruto never experienced. "No...it's okay. Um...Sorry for thinking you were going to attack me," he said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Hinata blushed, smiling slightly. Here she was, talking to Naruto. She was having an actual conversation with Uzumaki Naruto! She was still smiling on the outside, but, on the inside, she was dancing.

Naruto looked at Hinata and blinked. She was smiling. Not directly at him, more so at the ground. But she was smiling. She also stuttered, **a lot**, her face had been red since the second they'd met, and she seemed rather anxious when she spoke. She was rather weird in his eyes. "Well...I have to go. I promised the old man I'd meet him at Ichiraku's for dinner," Naruto said, starting to walk off.

Hinata's eyes widened. "A-Ah! N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata called out. Her face grew hot and red. She called his name, when she really didn't mean to.

Naruto stopped and turned to face her. "Yeah?"

Hinata panicked. What was she supposed to say now? "A-Ah...I-I-Is th-this wh-where you t-train?" she asked, pressing her forefingers together.

"Yeah. I come here all the time to train. Why?" he asked.

"W...Will you be here t-tomorrow?" she asked quietly. She wanted to see him more.

"Yeah. Why do you wanna know?" he asked. _'This girl is really weird.'_

"I...Is it...C-Can I...I-I...M-May I...t-train with you?" she asked in a very soft voice, looking at her feet. She was almost embarrassed to ask.

"Eh? Can you say that again? I didn't hear you," he said, cupping his hand behind his ear.

"C-Can I t-t-train with you?" she asked a little louder.

Naruto was shocked. This girl...this weird girl wanted to train with him? She wanted to train with him! Nobody had every offered to help him train, let alone train _with_ him. Naruto just couldn't refuse her offer. "Yeah!" Naruto was smiling from ear to ear. "I'll see you tomorrow!" he exclaimed, running off with a wave.

Hinata watched him run back into the forest. She stood there staring at the spot where Naruto disappeared, looking almost dumbfounded. _'N-Naruto-kun...is...Naruto-kun is going to train with me tomo__rrow! It's going to be almost like..._' Hinata's face became a deep red. _'Almost like a date...A date!'_ Hinata squealed aloud. She was rather glad her father wasn't there to see her. She would have been scolded and possibly slapped for performing such an immature gesture. She looked towards the sky and decided it was time to head home. Supper would be ready soon, and her father would be most angry if she were to return after dinner was served.

Hinata walked back into the village with a smile on her face. She couldn't help it. She broke off into a run back to the Hyuuga compound. She was just so happy! She spoke with Naruto today, and tomorrow she was going to be training with Naruto! She raced home, smiling all the way.

When she finally reached the compound, the smile was still gracing her lips. As she entered the premises, she saw several of the clan members in the courtyard training.

As she walked through the courtyard, the clan members gave her a respectful bow before resuming their training. She hated it when the other members bowed to her. She may have been the heiress to the Hyuuga Clan, but she didn't like how the Main Family was always so cruel to the Branch Family. Whenever a branch member passed her sister, her father or herself, they were to bow or risk being punished. She nodded to them, giving them a soft smile.

A majority of the Branch Family adored Hinata. She was like her mother Hitomi. They were both quiet, gentle, warm, and caring. They were also similar in looks. They had eggplant-colored hair and beautiful light lavender eyes filled with kindness, not hatred like most members of the Main Family.

Before Hinata made her way into her home, she noticed her cousin amongst the other Branch members. He was standing tall, wearing a Konoha hitai-ate proudly around his forehead. Her cousin Neji was one of the graduating students in this years class. He was considered a genius. He was glaring at her.

Hinata stood there in shock. He was always glaring at her lately. _'Why does he glare at me with e__yes so full of hate? Is it because I am in the Main House? I don't want him to hate me.'_

Neji turned his glare back towards the other Branch members and pushed on with the training.

Hinata shook off Neji's glare and walked into her home. She was greeted by her younger sister Hanabi. "You're almost late for dinner, Neesan," Hanabi said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Sorry, Hanabi-chan. I was with a...w-with a friend," Hinata said with a slight blush.

"What kind of friend?" Hanabi asked with a slight grin.

Hinata blushed and bit her lower lip. "...N-Naruto-kun."

Hanabi's eyes widened. "Are you serious? What would Otou-sama say if he found out you were with him? You know Otou-sama doesn't take well to him."

"I know. Please, Hanabi-chan, don't tell him. I'm going to be training with Naruto-kun tomorrow," she pleaded with her sister.

Hanabi eyed her sister and smiled. "I promise Neesan." Despite their father's favoritism towards Hanabi and his cruelty to Hinata, the Hyuuga sisters were very close. Hanabi wasn't cold to Hinata like she was when she was around her father or other members of the family, and Hinata didn't stutter around her sister. They shared everything with each other: secrets, feelings, crushes (Hanabi already knew Hinata's), and they tended to spend their evenings together talking about their day.

They heard the dinner bell ring, and they quickly walked to the dining room so Hiashi wouldn't get angry. They sat on their designated sitting pillows and waited. After waiting several moments, Hiashi walked in and sat on his sitting pillow, not looking towards his daughters.

A few moments later, their food was presented to them: Gyūdon, tempura vegetables, and miso soup. A typical dinner in their household. Hanabi and Hinata waited patiently until their father took the first bite of food. Soon, the family of three were all eating.

After a few moments of silence, Hiashi spoke. "Hanabi, tomorrow I shall be working on your Jūken Style. You are progressing well," he said, sipping his soup. "Hinata," he continued with a stern voice.

"O-Otou-sama?" she asked quietly.

"I implore you to work on your Jūken Style. It is below par," he said sternly.

"I'm sorry Otou-sama," she said hanging her head.

"The Elders and I have spoken about your abilities and skill level. We have decided that this will be your last chance. If your skills are not up to par for your age by your graduation date in the Academy next year, you will be stripped of your title as heiress," he stated, folding his arms over his chest.

Hinata was surprised. She knew that her self-confidence wasn't the best, and it affected her shinobi skills, but she didn't think it would come to this. She really wanted to become the Head of the Hyuuga Clan. If she did, then she'd be able to drastically changes things. "I p-promise to b-become strong, O-Otou-sama. I...I won't let you down," she said, looking at her food. She clenched her fists on her lap. She would get stronger. She would for herself, for her clan, and for Naruto-kun.

After dinner, Hinata and Hanabi excused themselves, and ended up in Hinata's room. "What are you going to do, Neesan? I know it's your dream to be Head of the clan and change things. How are you going to get stronger?" she asked.

"I don't know, Hanabi-chan. Training with Naruto-kun may help. He's very strong."

"But Neesan...he's failed the Genin test twice. How strong could he be?"

"If I train with Naruto-kun, maybe I can get stronger," Hinata said with a nod. "I will grow stronger...I just..."

"You just need to believe in yourself, Neesan." Hanabi said, placing a hand on her older sister's shoulder.

"Yeah. Thank you Hanabi-chan."

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.

.

Naruto sat on his usual stool at Ichiraku's Ramen stand. His teacher Iruka was with him. "Naruto...You really need to start taking the Genin exam seriously. You need to start taking training seriously!" he scolded. Of course, Naruto wasn't listening. He was too wrapped up in his sixth bowl of ramen.

"But Iwuka-thenthei!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Swallow before you you speak, Naruto," Iruka said, rubbing his temples. This child could be so hopeless sometimes.

Naruto did as he was told and swallowed all the noodles in his mouth before speaking again. "But Iruka-sensei! I was being serious! I tried my hardest and I couldn't do it!" he exclaimed, slurping the broth from the large bowl.

Iruka sighed. "Listen Naruto...I really do want you to graduate, but I don't think you're trying your hardest. You do the minimum school work that is required. Your taijutsu is horrible, you can't produce any genjutsu, and your ninjutsu is just as bad as your taijutsu."

"But-"

"Naruto...I really don't want to see you fail again. Promise me that during the break you'll train hard. You'll study."

"But Iruka-sensei! I hate studying." Naruto groaned.

Iruka sighed. "Sorry then, Naruto. If you don't study and don't train hard, you won't be able to become Hokage," he stated bluntly. He cared for Naruto like a little brother. He wanted Naruto to succeed, and would help Naruto over the break when he could. But when Naruto became this difficult and lazy, he honestly wanted to do nothing more than give up on Naruto. He would become so hopeless sometimes.

"But Iruka-sensei! I have to become Hokage! It's my dream!" he exclaimed.

"You want to be Hokage that bad? Then prove it," Iruka said with a stern voice. He paid for his meal and left Naruto to think about his words.

Naruto watched Iruka walk off and sighed. _'Maybe Iruka-sensei is right...Maybe I should be more serious about my training. I slacked o__ff so much last break that I was way far behind the other students._'

"Something bothering you, Naruto-kun?" Ayame, the owner's daughter, asked.

"Oh...hey Ayame-neechan. Just...thinking," he said quietly.

"What about?"

"Well...right now, my skills are nowhere near where they should be. I need to study and work harder...but it's so hard and boring," Naruto whined.

"Well, you know how I make studying easier? I study with a friend. To me, it's more fun," she suggested with a smile.

Naruto thought for a moment. "Yeah, it would be..." _'Wait a minute...That weird Hyuuga girl said she wanted to train with me tomorrow. Maybe she'll train with me over the whole break!'_ Naruto stood up, pulled out his froggy wallet, and paid Ayame for his meal. "Thanks, Ayame-neechan! See ya later!" he said with a large smile before running back to his apartment. He was honestly excited about tomorrow.

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Hinata woke up just before dawn. She quickly dressed in her normal attire: her black shinobi Capri, black t-shirt, and her cream colored jacket. She made her way towards the kitchens to make bento boxes for Naruto and herself. She was very thankful her father allowed her and her sister to not attend breakfast or lunch with him or with members of the Main Family. As she walked in, there were the Branch Family cooks cooking breakfast. They bowed their heads to Hinata, who smiled in return.

The cooks were used to Hinata's presence in the kitchen. It wasn't unusual for her to be in there making her own breakfast or lunch. Hinata spent the next several hours making two delicious lunches that she prayed Naruto would enjoy. Once the meals were in their respective bento boxes, she waved to the cooks and quickly left the kitchens with a bright smile. She reached the front door and placed on her ninja sandals. She thanked Kami-sama that she didn't run into her father. If she had to explain why she had two bentos and why she was leaving this early, she wasn't too sure what she would tell him.

She walked through the streets of Konoha, noticing that many shops and restaurants were just opening up. She headed through the forest to the training ground she was supposed to meet Naruto at. The closer she got, the more nervous she became. Her face became slightly pink, and she could feel her heart begin to pound. As she stepped out of the forest and into the clearing of the training ground, she noticed Naruto wasn't there. She blinked. She looked up towards the sky and realized it was just after sunrise. Realizing she was early, she decided to start her training. She placed the lunches by one of the three training logs and took her normal fighting stance. She took several deep breaths before striking the padded log with her palms.

.

.

.

Naruto woke up with a groan. He let out a huge yawn and pulled off his night cap. He got up out of bed with another yawn and stretched. He reached up in the air, then bent over and touched his toes. He let out a sigh and smiled. "All right. Today I'm going to get serious." He turned to his clock and gasped. "AAAAH! I OVERSLEPT!" He raced to his closet and began to tear off his clothes. He quickly put on his orange jumpsuit and sandals. "Stupid, friggin alarm clock! It can never go off on time!" he yelled. He got out of his apartment, locked it, and raced to the training area.

When Naruto finally got there, he saw Hinata striking the padded log with as much strength as she could muster. Naruto watched her for a few minutes, before he approached. "Uh...H-Hey," Naruto said, somewhat embarrassed about being late.

Hinata gasped softly and turned around. "N-N-Naruto-kun...H-Hello."

"Sorry I'm late. My alarm didn't go off. Kind of a lame excuse, but I swear it's the truth!" he exclaimed loudly.

Hinata giggled slightly. "I-It's okay, N-Naruto-kun. I h-h-haven't been h-here too l-long." It was a lie. She had been there for a little more than three hours. But it wasn't a total loss. She was able to train on her own for a little while without any distractions.

"Um...I know this sounds bad...but I didn't catch your name yesterday. What is it?" he asked, folding his hands behind his head.

Hinata blushed slightly and pushed her forefingers together. "U-Um, i-i-it's H-Hinata..." Her voice was almost a whisper.

"Hinata? That's a nice name," he said with a smile. "I saw you were already training without me! You looked really good."

Hinata went a bright red. _'He...He said I looked really good...!'_ Hinata couldn't help but let a small smile grace her lips.

"So...Um...I kinda went to the library last night and checked out some scrolls," he said, pulling about six scrolls out of his jacket.

"I d-didn't know the l-l-library w-was open a-at night," she said looking at the scrolls in his hands.

"They aren't."

Hinata blinked. "Y...You st-stole scrolls from the l-l-library?" Hinata was a little shocked. Why would he steal scrolls when he could just check them out?

"Uh...The people at the library don't like me because I pranked the place so much as a kid. So I've been banned from going in there," he said, rubbing the back of his head. It wasn't a total lie. He was banned, but he had no idea why. The librarians would never let him get past the front door without shouting at him to get out or calling him a demon. "Anyway, these scrolls have some of the basic chakra control and taijutsu styles," he said, opening a taijutsu scroll. There were so many styles!

Hinata looked at him and slowly took a chakra control scroll. They seemed to sit and read their scrolls for hours. What Hinata read, it seemed to get her thinking. _'In the Jūken__ Style, we aim for precision, but we tend to use more chakra in case our aim is off so we can still shut down tenketsu. From what Otou-sama taught me, Hyuugas are great at chakra control, but we aren't masters.'_ She continued to read about simple chakra control exercises: Leaf Concentration, Walking on Trees, and Walking on Water. She nodded as she read and continued down the scroll.

Naruto was reading over the different forms of Taijutsu styles. '_There are so many styles: Crane, Tiger, Panther, Snake, __Dragon, Monkey, Mantis, Lotus. How do I figure out which one belongs to me? Well...let's start with Crane. Crane Style: The Crane Style embodies elegance, patience and evasion. The Crane style is more of a defensive style of taijutsu, rather than offensive__._

_Tiger Style: The Tiger Style is one of power, directness, and simplicity. For the Tiger Style, footwork is minimal, only being used to interfere. A Tiger Style user must have good ground contact to develop its power. The Tiger Style will allow you to discover the power of Simplicity and Directness._

_Panther Style: The Panther style is for those who promotes thinking, strategy, and cunning. The Panther Style is for users who think their opponents can be out-thought, out-maneuvered, and out-classed. A Panther user prefers to dodge and hide, but in the most honorable of ways._

_Serpent Style: The Serpent Style is one for wisdom, knowledge, precision, experience, and clarity. The Serpent Style isn't one for offense, nor is it one for defense. It is a style of order and control, not of random strikes; it is a style of power without violence, speed without haste, and knowledge without dominance._

Naruto read the first five styles and none of them seemed to fit him at all. He thought maybe the Tiger Style would, but he liked to use his feet in fights. There was no way he'd be able to keep good ground. He read over several others. None of them would work for him either. But he finally found one, he thought would work.

_'The Dragon Style: The Dragon Style is one of concentration, willpower, hard work, and protection. Dragon Style users are known more for spiral types of attacks. The Dragon Style is like the Serpent Style in a sense. It isn't one for offense or defense. The Dragon Style is one for creating peace, harmony, and safety._

Naruto read the basic information on the Dragon Style and smiled. This sounded perfect! He didn't particularly like to fight. He just wanted to protect the ones he loved and his village. That was the reason he wanted to be a Shinobi. He was about to continue reading about the Dragon Style when he heard his stomach growl. He looked down and blushed slightly.

Hinata was brought out of her concentration when she heard Naruto's stomach growl. She looked at Naruto and giggled. "A-Are you h-hungry, N-Naruto-kun?" she asked, wrapping up her scroll.

"Uh...y-yeah. I kinda of forgot to eat breakfast," he replied with a laugh.

"I-It's okay, N-Naruto-kun. I m-made some b-bentos," she said grabbing the bento boxes. She handed one to Naruto, and placed one in her lap.

"Wow, Hinata! Thanks a lot!" he exclaimed, opening the bento. "Kami, Hinata! This looks delicious!" Inside the bento were three onigiri, tempura fried shrimp, tempura fried vegetables, and some sunomono. Naruto stared at the food, practically salivating over himself. "I don't know where to start!" He picked up an onigiri and bit into it. He nearly teared up.

"This is the best thing I've ever tasted that isn't ramen!" he exclaimed. He began to practically shove the onigiri in his mouth.

Hinata watched him eat and giggled. She broke her chopsticks and began to eat as well, but she started with the fried vegetables. While they ate, Naruto praised Hinata on her cooking, and told her of the latest prank he was planning.

"N-Naruto-kun, I-I don't think the v-village w-would like it if y-you painted the H-Hokage M-Monument," she said, nibbling on her onigiri.

"But it'll be funny," he exclaimed, poking the sunomono with his chopsticks. "What is this stuff, Hinata?"

"S-Sunomono. It's a c-cucumber salad in v-vinegar," she explained, taking another bite of her food. "It's r-really tasty N-Naruto-kun."

Naruto stared at it, and poked it a little more. He picked up a few slices of cucumber and sniffed it. He put it in his mouth, chewed and swallowed. "Wow! That is tasty!" he exclaimed, taking more of the cucumber slices. "Ne, Hinata, would you come back tomorrow? I think...I think it would be more fun to train if I had a friend to train with," he said, eating more.

Hinata dropped her chopsticks onto her bento box. Her eyes were wide, her mouth hung open a little, and a bright blush was spread across her face. '_He...a friend? Are we...?'_

"Are you okay, Hinata?" Naruto asked trying out his fried vegetables. It was a carrot. "Is this a carrot? Wow! This tastes so much better than a normal fresh one!" he exclaimed, biting it again.

Hinata slowly nodded. "N-Naruto-kun...A-Are we...f-friends?" she asked gripping her pants tightly.

"Huh? Well...yeah! You've been so nice to me, and made me a bento, and we're gonna train together! Yeah, I think we're friends!" Naruto answered, holding out his hand.

Hinata blushed, and slowly reached out. She took his hand, and Naruto began to shake it. Naruto let go and stared at Hinata's bento. "Ne, Hinata? Aren't you going to eat your shrimp? It's so good!"

"U-Uh...n-no. I d-don't like sh-shrimp," she said with a blush. "W-Would you l-l-like it?" she asked, holding out her bento. Naruto nodded and took the shrimp, quickly downing them. "D-did you e-enjoy th-the lunch."

"Oh yeah! It was so good. I love ramen, but this homemade lunch was fantastic!" Naruto answered with a smile. "So, what did you learn?" he asked, handing her back the bento.

"Basic ch-chakra control. C-Can I borrow this? I-I w-w-want to practice a-a-at home," she said, holding the scroll.

"Sure. I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Tomorrow we'll do some real training! Not just reading! Bye Hinata!" he said, running off with a wave.

Hinata blinked. He was so spontaneous. She giggled lightly. She looked on the ground and grabbed a leaf. Hinata remembered what she read about the leaf exercise. _'Channel chakra to the point where the leaf is. Concentrate on that specific point to keep the leaf from falling.'_ Hinata also read to start the leaf on a larger surface on the body, such as the forehead, the palm of the hand, back of the hand, etc. Hinata placed it on the palm of her hand, and channeled some chakra to the leaf. She continued to channel the chakra as she walked through the forest. The leaf fell twice, due to her losing concentration because a sudden breeze picked up.

She walked through town, staring at the leaf in complete concentration. She reached the Hyuuga compound, where she heard her sister and her father sparring. Hanabi and Hiashi stopped and watched Hinata. Hiashi was a little confused as to why she had a leaf in her palm. "Hinata, what are you doing?" he asked a little sternly.

"Concentrating, Otou-sama," she answered quietly. She turned her palm over, still channeling her chakra to the leaf. The leaf continued to stick to Hinata's palm, while her hand turned upside down. Hinata was still concentrating, but smiled slightly to herself. She turned her palm over, so that her palm was right side up again. She stopped channeling her chakra, and let go of the leaf. _'I did it!_'

"Hinata."

Hinata turned around and saw her father and sister staring at her. "H-Hai?"

"What were you doing?" he asked, sliding his arms into the opposite sleeves.

"U-Uh...I was d-doing chakra c-c-control. I-It w-was the l-leaf ex-exercise." she stuttered.

"I could see that." He frowned slightly. "It's good to see you taking your training seriously," he said, before turning back to Hanabi. "We are done for the day Hanabi. Clean up for supper. You too, Hinata," he ordered, going back into the house.

Hanabi bowed to her father. She ran over to Hinata and smiled happily. "Wow, Neesan! That was cool what you did with the leaf! Could you teach me?" she asked excitedly. Hanabi loved to learn, even though Hiashi practically shoved knowledge down her throat.

"Maybe when you're a little older, Hanabi-chan." she replied with a bright smile.

"So...how was training with Uzumaki-san?" Hanabi asked, gently poking her sister with her elbow.

"H-Hanbi-chan!" She blushed. "It...It was nice. W-We mostly read," she answered, fiddling with the hem of her jacket. "I-It was nice. I-I think t-tomorrow w-we'll d-do more than j-just read."

"Well, that's good. I think Otou-sama is happy with you," she said with a nod.

"Y-You think so?"

"Yeah. He didn't sound quite so cold when he spoke to you." She nodded. "Come on, Neesan! I wanna bath!" she exclaimed, tugging Hinata's arm.

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Naruto was back at Ichiraku's eating a bowl of Pork Miso Ramen. The Third Hokage was sitting next to him, eating some vegetable ramen. "So, Naruto, the library was broken into. Do you know anything about it?" Sarutobi asked, eying Naruto.

"Yeah...it was me," he said, slurping more noodles. "I wanted some scrolls to study. The librarian wouldn't let me borrow them."

"Why not? I sent them a letter saying you were allowed in the library." He was shocked. He even received a letter from the librarians saying they received it.

"Yeah, well, apparently, the note was either "lost" or "misplaced" or burned in the fireplace, because they can't find any record of the letter," he said, sipping down the bowl of ramen broth. "It's okay, old man. I got what I needed. You know...for the most part." He patted his stomach, content and full.

Sarutobi's face darkened. He was rather upset that the librarians "misplaced" his letter, and were keeping Naruto out of the library. He would have to talk to the librarians. "Anyway, Naruto, why did you want those scrolls?"

"Well...me and this girl named Hinata are training together. I figured I could borrow some scrolls to help our training."

Sarutobi was shocked. Not only because Naruto was taking his training seriously by borrowing scrolls...but because he was training with the one person that cared about Naruto more than anyone else. "Well Naruto, I'm glad for you. I wish you luck in your training. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must get home. My grandson is waiting for me." Sarutobi paid for both his meal and Naruto's and left the stand.

"Bye! And thanks, old man!" He waved. Naruto thanked Ayame and Teuchi for the ramen and went to his apartment. He opened it up and went to his room. Dropping the scrolls on his bed, he began reading again. He read more about the Dragon Style, and the other scrolls he had on basic chakra control. He would pass this coming year. He wanted to get stronger, and be smarter. He would do it. He had to.

**So...? What did you thiiiiink? I hope you all enjoy it, and please...pleasepleaseplease review. I would like to see what you liked, what you didn't like. What you think I could improve on, what you want to see in the future. I really, honestly take my reader's suggestions into consideration. Thanks again!**

**~Lu Lu-Chan25**


	2. This Isn't Going to be Easy

**Chapter 2**

**Hey people! How goes it? This is the second chapter and I think this chapter is a very important chapter for future chapters. I also want you to know, and this is **_**IMPORTANT**_**!**

**I am doing a poll for this story! Its a poll for who should be Naruto and Hinata's third teammate and sensei. Yes. Hinata and Naruto **_**will be**_** teammates. I just don't know who to choose. So...help me out please!**

**Also! Please review! I love reviews! They make me happy! Also if you don't feel like going to the poll on my profile, you can give me your opinion on who should be on their team and who should be their Sensei.**

**Also a few people commented about the dragon style, saying that most people do som****ething about adding dragons to the story, or something of that nature. Well...I'm not most people. I'm not going to add that kind of thing to this story. I also have a friend who did that in his story **_**Naruto's True Nindo **_**and **_**Legends Never Die**_**. Kyuubi123 ha****s done that, and I will not copy him, and doing the whole adding dragon aspect isn't my thing. I just did research on fighting styles and the Dragon Style, to me, really fit Naruto.**

**Also I'd like to thank my new Beta, hinatasgreatestfan!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did...well...I think the world would suddenly implode in on itself! Just kidding!**

Over the next several days, Hinata and Naruto met at their training grounds to continue their basic training. They would either read or practice what they had read. Naruto took to the Dragon Style like a fish to water. It was like the style was made for him, the moves flowed from his body so naturally. Hinata was also improving. The girl was able to move the leaf around her body. She wasn't able to keep her concentration for long. Moving the leaf around her body, while keeping it stuck to herself, used more chakra than just keeping the leaf from falling. She could move the leaf up her arm and up to her forehead, but that was when her concentration would break.

Today, Naruto was going to test his Dragon Style on Hinata in a sparring match, and Hinata was going to help him with his chakra control. Their plan was to work on Naruto's chakra control first.

"A-Alright Naruto-kun. I-I've been practicing the l-leaf exercise and it's a-actually quite simple," she said with a soft smile. "You take th-the leaf and place it on y-your forehead, or-or on your hand." Naruto nodded and placed the lead on his forehead, tilting his head back slightly so it wouldn't fall off on its own. "Now...channel y-your chakra to the leaf. B-But not a lot...o-okay?"

"Okay." He closed his eyes and focused on channeling his chakra to the leaf.

"Now...slowly tilt your head f-forward. M-Make sure you're st-still channeling your chakra." Naruto did as he was told. He slowly lifted his head until it was back in its upright position. "G-Good!" she said happily.

Naruto opened his eyes and smiled happily at her praise but lost his concentration, and the leaf fell from his forehead. "Dammit!" he cursed.

Hinata smiled. "I-It's okay Naruto. Y-You learn b-by trial and e-error. D-Do it again." The blond nodded. He repeated the procedure: tilting his head back, placing the leaf on his forehead, channeling his chakra, and lifting his head upright. "Now...Don't lose y-our concentration. If you b-break it...the l-leaf will fall."

Naruto didn't say anything, but he understood. He sat in an almost meditative state for several minutes, before Hinata spoke again. "G-Good job N-Naruto-kun. Y-You can t-take the leaf o-off your f-forehead."

Naruto opened his eyes and took the leaf off his forehead. "Why'd you stop me?" he asked curiously.

"I w-want to tell you s-something." Her lavender eyes were focused more on the ground than on Naruto. "I w-want you to c-continue d-doing the l-leaf exercise...b-but I...I'm going to t-try to d-distract you. I d-don't want you t-to lose your c-concentration...okay?" the blunette stated.

Naruto nodded. "Alright. Do your worst!" he said with a cheeky grin.

Hinata nodded. She stood up and waited for Naruto to begin. He placed the leaf on his forehead, closed his eyes, and channeled.

Hinata smiled slightly. She walked over to one of the training logs and took the Jūken stance. She took in a deep breath and began to strike the log. Every time she hit the log, it made a soft "thud" noise. Every time she struck the log, she let out a loud exhale. Normally a "hyaa" or a "haa."

Naruto could hear her practicing and attempted to tune her out. He was able to do so for about ten minutes before he started getting bored. Naruto wasn't usually one for sitting still for long. The leaf began to wobble on top of his sun-kissed forehead. Naruto scrunched his nose and squeezed his crystal blue eyes shut, still trying to keep the leaf on his forehead. Hinata turned to see how Naruto was faring. She noticed his face and couldn't help but giggle.

Naruto started taking a few deep breaths, trying to get himself to calm down, and not feel quite so bored and tense in his concentration. Hinata smiled and walked over to Naruto and sat beside him. She began to wave her hands in front of his face. Naruto wasn't budging, and neither was the leaf. Hinata thought a second. Then an idea hit the blunette. She slowly reached towards the blond with hesitant hands. She stopped mere inches from the blond's body before she reached with her right hand, her index finger extended. Hinata poked Naruto's side and quickly pulled away. She noticed Naruto quiver slightly, but no change other than that. She began to slowly poke him on different places. His neck, arms, legs, and ribs.

Whenever Hinata would poke his side, he would start to lose his concentration. Her movements quickened and soon the leaf fell off his forehead, and he began to laugh. "Stop tickling me!"

Hinata pulled her hands away, and grabbed the hem of her sweatshirt. "G-Gomen..." she said sadly, her lavender eyes downcast.

Naruto blinked. "I'm not mad Hinata. I mean, you managed to break my concentration, and I was trying so hard to keep it in," he laughed.

Hinata blushed and smiled. "Y-You were doing a g-good job N-Naruto-Kun."

"Thanks Hinata. What do you say we do some sparring? I need to stretch my muscles before I get stuck like this," he said, standing up. Naruto touched his toes and stood up with a smile. "Alright! I'm ready for a little sparring."

Hinata nodded and took her stance. "I-I'm ready, N-Naruto-kun." Naruto nodded and took his own stance. He took a deep breath, trying to recollect what he had learned.

"Okay...shall we establish rules first?" Hinata nodded. "Alright. Uh...Obviously we'll hold back. I don't want to seriously hurt you...and I don't need to be seriously hurt." He chuckled nervously. "Uhm...no punches to the head or...below the belt...if you know what I mean." Naruto blushed. He wasn't the only one. Hinata's face was redder than a tomato.

"Are we good?" Hinata nodded. "Alright." He took a deep breath once more before charging at Hinata. He threw the first punch, and Hinata quickly countered the punch with a palm thrust. In the Jūken Style, one usually counters with another strike. Those who choose to dodge rather than counter are usually more flexible than the average person, so their feet can remain firmly on the ground.

Naruto then brought up his knee to strike her in the stomach. Hinata brought her palm down and struck the top of Naruto's knee. Naruto gasped and backed up a few steps, holding his knee. It hurt. Normally a strike to the knee didn't hurt so much. "Wow...that was a powerful strike." He began to move and flex his knee to get some feeling back in it.

"Th...That's the Jūken Style," Hinata said with a small smile.

"Awesome! Maybe you could teach it to me," Naruto said excitedly.

"I don't th-think so N-Naruto-kun. The Jūken Style i-is a taijustu o-only known b-by the H-Hyuuga Clan," Hinata said, straightening up. "I-I'm trying to g-get better at it."

"Well, you're already good!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Oh! Well...thank you!" Hinata blushed and pushed her forefingers together. "I-It's a very sp-special style. Th-The Jūken Style t-targets p-pressure points and t-tenketsu. I...It tends t-to render an o-opponent h-helpless."

"How?" Naruto blinked.

"W-Well...y-your knee for example. I struck a p-pressure point in y-your knee..t-temporarily numbing it...c-correct?" Hinata asked quietly.

"Well...yeah. I can feel it now. It's a little sore, but yeah...it was numb."

Hinata nodded slightly. "W-We...th-the Hyuuga Clan...w-we're taught how t-to target p-pressure points a-at a young a-age. O-Our Kekkei Genkai a-allows us t-to see t-tenketsu t-to stop chakra flow th-through your body."

Naruto stared at Hinata in disbelief. "No way! Remind me to never make you mad Hinata!" he laughed.

Hinata giggled. "O-Okay Naruto-kun. Now...sh-shall we continue?" she asked, taking her stance.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah! Just try not to paralyze me," he joked. Hinata nodded, and the two continued their sparring match.

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After several hours of non-stop sparring, Naruto was laying on his back, drenched in sweat. His chest rose and fell rather frequently with labored breath. He turned to Hinata, who was sitting next to him and rather sweaty as well. "You...You're really...strong," the blond panted.

"You...You think s-so?" Hinata asked. She was gasping for breath just as much as the blond, blue-eyed ninja next to her.

"Yeah!" Naruto sat up and smiled. "You...You were great Hinata! Your style...is so awesome. I'm...I'm gonna be bruised...and sore for a week." He nodded. Hinata blushed. She couldn't believe Naruto was praising her so much. She blinked and looked over at Naruto when she heard his stomach growl. "Ehehe..." Naruto blushed himself. "Guess I worked up an appetite."

Hinata giggled. She gasped when she heard her own stomach growl. She quickly covered her stomach with her hands and blushed brightly. Naruto laughed. "I guess you're hungry too! Come on Hinata! Let's get lunch! My treat!" he said happily.

Hinata stared into the crystal pools on the beautiful sun-kissed face of her crush. Her face was as red as a rose. She couldn't believe he was asking her to lunch. '_Oh...Oh my Kami-sama! He...He asked me on a d...a date!' _Hinata slowly nodded.

"Great! Let's go!" He quickly jumped up to his feet. Just the thought of ramen instantly energized the blond. He helped Hinata up and happily led the way.

Hinata was getting increasingly nervous. The closer they got to town, the more she felt like running away. Her heart was beating out of her chest. '_How am I going to stay conscious if I continue to act like this? My heart is beating __a million miles a minute and my face is hotter than the sun. There is no way I can do this!'_

"Look Hinata! There it is!" Naruto exclaimed.

Hinata took in her surroundings. They were already out of the forest? How could she not have realized it? Hinata saw Naruto run ahead of her and sit down on a chair at a small stand. She slowly walked up to the stand and sat beside him. "Wh-What is this place, N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked. Her lavender eyes roamed the small food stand. It was rather plain and a little run down, but the aroma emitting from the kitchen was heavenly.

"This is Ichiraku's! The best place ever to eat ramen! I love this place so much!" he said in a slightly dreamy tone.

"Hello, Naruto!" called Ayame. "Oh, you brought a friend! Welcome to our stand!" The woman bowed.

"Thank y-you," Hinata said, bowing her head to the girl. "I...I'm Hinata Hyuuga," Hinata added shyly.

The girl gasped. "Hyuuga? Thank you for choosing our small restaurant to eat at, Hyuuga-sama! My father and I are honored!" Never before had a Hyuuga eaten at Ichiraku's.

"Yup! That's Hinata! We've been training together for the past several days!" Naruto said with a smile. "Hey old man!" Naruto waved to Ayame's father.

"Naruto! It's good to see you my boy! And who is your friend?" he said turning to the bluenette.

"This is Hinata! She's my new friend!" Naruto practically shouted. "Can we order now?" Naruto asked, practically salivating.

"Naruto! Don't be rude! Maybe Hinata-san would like to chat before her meal!" Ayame scolded. Naruto mumbled an apology. "So Hinata-san, how'd you come to know Naruto?"

"W-Well...I...I saw him..." She saw Naruto out of the corner of her eye, and saw that he looked slightly uncomfortable. "I saw him t-training one day. I d-didn't mean to s-spy. He saw me w-watching and we s-struck up a c-conversation," she lied. Well, part of it was a lie. She did spy, and he was training when she was caught. But this girl didn't need to know about Naruto's breakdown. "H-He asked t-to train with me, a-and we b-became friends," she said with a slight blush.

Naruto nodded. "She's also a good cook! She made me a bento box once, and I swear Ayame-chan! Her cooking might stop me from coming here for every meal!" the blond exclaimed.

Teuchi, Ayame's father and the owner of Ichiraku's, came out of the kitchen. "Really?" he asked. He was listening in on the conversation. "You must be one hell of a cook to keep Naruto from coming here for a meal." Teuchi smiled. He loved Naruto, and the boy was his best customer, but he was honestly happy that Naruto had made a friend and wasn't living off ramen for every meal. "So kids, what do you want?" He said with a smile.

"I want some Pork Miso Ramen!" Naruto shouted happily.

Hinata silently giggled at the blond's enthusiasm over ramen. She took a quick glance over the menu, before looking up at Teuchi. "I w-would like s-some C-Curry Chicken Ramen, please." she said with a small smile.

Teuchi smiled. "Coming right up!" He walked into the kitchen and began preparing his food.

Ayame leaned over the counter and whispered into Naruto's ear. "Naruto-kun...perhaps you shouldn't order too much ramen. Two to three bowls maximum."

"Eh? Nani?" Naruto whined.

"Because you don't want Hinata-san to see you eat that much. She could think of you as some sort of disgusting pig and not want to be your friend because of the way you eat." Ayame explained.

Naruto's eyes widened. He couldn't lose Hinata as his friend! She was his only friend! He looked at Ayame and nodded. Naruto turned to Hinata. The lavender-eyed girl was sitting patiently in her seat, gently swinging her feet to and fro. "Ne, Hinata?" Naruto began.

Hinata turned to Naruto, her cheeks slightly tinted pink. "Y-Yes?"

"What should we do next? You know, in our training. You've helped me a lot in my chakra control, and let me tell you. My chakra control sucked!" Naruto nodded. "And you also helped me with my taijutsu, which was just as bad! But I think we should take it up to the next level!" Naruto exclaimed.

Hinata agreed. While working on their chakra control and taijutsu was necessary, they needed to do more. Perhaps, they should work more on stamina and ninjutsu. "A-Alright. When shall w-we work o-on them?"

Naruto thought. "Hmm...I dunno. Maybe tomorrow," he said with a smile. His smile grew when Teuchi brought out their meals.

"Alright. Pork Miso Ramen for Naruto." he said, placing the large bowl in front of Naruto. "And a Curry Chicken Ramen for his friend." he said, giving Hinata her ramen. "Enjoy."

"Thanks old man!" Naruto smiled and broke his chopstick. "I hope you like it Hinata! Ramen is so good!" He shouted before digging into his bowl.

Hinata giggled and took her own pair of chopstick and broke them. "Itadakimasu," she quickly spoke before taking her first taste of her ramen. In all honesty, she thought the ramen would be slightly fatty and bland. She was completely wrong. Her particular ramen was full of flavor. The curry chicken and the curry flavoring of the broth wasn't too spicy but had enough kick. She could taste other ingredients that made her taste buds soar. It was very delicious. She wasn't sure if she could eat ramen every meal of every day like Naruto. But it would be a very delicious treat to have every once in a while.

"So? Does it taste good Hinata?" Naruto asked before putting more noodles in his mouth.

"Y-Yes!" Hinata said after she swallowed her food. "It's v-very delicious!" she added, eating more of her meal.

While the two preteens ate, the Hokage joined them. He was looking in his crystal ball, and saw the two at Ichiraku's. He figured a little visit and officially meeting Naruto's first friend was a good idea. He sat with the two children as they ate, joining them in their conversation. The two preteens ate their meals happily. Naruto would talk about pranks he's pulled in the past. Currently he was telling a prank he pulled on the Hokage. "It was so funny! I totally put ink in his tea, and after he drank his tea, he had a black ink mustache! He couldn't get it off for a week!" The owners, and Hinata, laughed along with Naruto. Even the Hokage chuckled. It was rather embarrassing, especially since he had a very important meeting that day, but it was also humorous.

"Hinata!" came a sharp tone. Hinata froze. Naruto, Hiruzen, Ayame, and Teuchi looked towards the voice. Hinata however, couldn't turn around. "Hinata. What are you doing here?"

"Hey! Don't talk to Hinata like that! She's eating lunch with me! Is that a problem?" Naruto growled.

The man frowned. "I shall speak to my daughter in any way I see fit. Hinata! Tell me. Why are you with this...delinquent?" Hiashi chose his words wisely.

Hiruzen frowned. "Hiashi. I do not like that tone you are taking, especially to your daughter."

"Forgive me Hokage-sama," he ground out. "Hinata. Come. We're going home," he commanded.

Hinata slowly got up. She glanced at Naruto with apologetic eyes, before walking to her father. Her lavender eyes were fixated on the ground. She wouldn't dare look up at her father. "Good. We're going home." He bowed to the Hokage, and Hinata did the same. Then they left.

Naruto blinked and looked at Hiruzen. "Hey old man? Who was that?" Naruto asked.

"Hiashi Hyuuga. Head of the Hyuuga Clan. He's very stern and cold. He used to be more genuine and gentle. He changed when his wife died," Hiruzen explained. Naruto turned back to the fading figures of Hinata and her father. "Don't worry Naruto. I'll go check on Hinata later this evening. Deal?" Naruto hugged Hiruzen and yelled a thank you. Hiruzen chuckled and ruffled Naruto's blond hair.

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When Hiashi and Hinata reached the Hyuuga compound, Hiashi wasted no time in dealing with Hinata. He quickly struck her across the cheek with an open hand. "How dare you!" he yelled. "You dare go near that demon?" His yelling quickly gained the attention of surrounding Hyuugas, including Hinata's cousin, Neji.

Hinata yelped when she was struck. She turned back to her father with an emotionless face. She was now sporting a very red left cheek. She wanted nothing more than to cry and beg her father to tell her why he had hit her, but she knew better. Hinata just stood there and waited for any more physical harm that might come her way.

Hiashi crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at his daughter. "You will tell me why you were with that demon."

"Naruto-kun isn't a demon." Her head turned with the impact of Hiashi's hand. She had been slapped once again.

"Wrong answer," he growled. "Tell me. Why were you with him?" He was willing to unleash more wrath upon her if she did not talk.

"Naruto-kun invited me to lunch," she stated bluntly, with no stutter or fear in her voice. When her father became violent towards her, Hinata went into an emotionless state of mind, so she could handle the abuse. Hiashi stared down at his daughter for a few more moments before shoving her to the ground. Hinata fell to the ground and sat up, staring into her father's pupilless eyes.

Hiashi was growing angry. His daughter had learned to show nothing when he beat her. However, he enjoyed seeing her cry and show her weakness to him, even though he wanted her to be a strong heiress for the clan. "You will not see him again. Let me repeat that. You will _**not**_ see him again. And you are confined to the compound until you have learned your lesson," he commanded.

Hinata muttered a quiet, "Yes, Otou-sama," and Hiashi went to his room. She waited until he had left before standing up. She turned to the others and gave them a kind smile. "Forgive me for that horrid scene." Hinata bowed to the other Hyuugas before retreating to her room. Once she shut her door, she slumped to the ground and finally let the tears she had been holding in fall freely.

_'Why...? Why does he hit me? Why doesn't he want me to see Naruto-kun?'_ Hinata sat there, silently crying into her hands. Hinata jumped when she heard a knock at her door. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and took a deep breath before opening the door. Her lavender eyes widened. "N-Neji-nii-san?"

Neji nodded. "Good afternoon, Hinata-sama," he said with a slight bow. "May I come in? I wish to speak with you." Hinata stepped aside and allowed Neji to enter her room. Hinata's room was very simple. Most of the room was beige, like all the other rooms in the compound. However, Hinata had added her own personal touches with lavender bedding, some fresh orchids by her window, and two pictures. One was of her family: her father, mother, infant sister, and herself. The other took Neji by surprise. It was a picture of Neji himself and Hinata as children, before his father was killed. Neji turned to Hinata and took a deep breath. "You held yourself well, Hinata-sama."

Hinata blinked. Was Neji...complimenting her? "I don't know what I would have done if my father..." Neji stopped for a moment. He took another deep breath and continued. "I don't know what I would have done if my father did that to me." He thought of what to say next, but the words weren't coming to him. "I..." He searched the ground for his words, but still nothing.

Hinata stared at her cousin for a moment, before smiling and placing a hand on his cheek. "Neji-niisan, m-m-may I ask a f-f-favor of you?"

"You may," he said with a small nod.

"You're v-very strong, and very i-i-intelligent. Y-Y-You've been c-called a genius. P-Please...help m-me train," the blunette requested. Neji was taken back by her request. "P-Please Neji-niisan. I know m-my s-strength i-i-isn't that great. I-I've b-been trying...b-but...I will n-never m-match your s-skill on m-my own. I-I want to b-be able to g-go into th-the a-academy this y-year and b-be r-ready. I-I want to be c-confident...and not s-so timid...e-especially a-about my p-power," Hinata said with a sigh. She wanted to be strong, she just needed help.

Neji looked at his cousin and nodded. "Yes, I shall help you with your training. I do have missions that require my attention first, but, once I am sent back home, I shall help you with your training."

"Th-That r-reminds me Neji-niisan. Wh-What is y-your team like?" She instantly noticed the haunted look on her cousin's face. "N-Neji-niisan?"

Neji quickly returned his is usual stoic face. "My team is...interesting," he said bluntly.

"How so?" Hinata blinked.

"My sensei is very...enthusiastic."

"Enthusiastic? E-Enthusiastic l-like...?"

Neji sighed. "He shouts and spurts strange nonsense about The Flames of Youth. One of my teammates is a spitting image of our sensei. I believed at first that they were father and son, but they are not related." Neji didn't sound too enthused about his team. "However, he can only use Taijutsu. I examined his chakra system with the Byakugan and his chakra coils are very small, almost nonexistent."

"W-What about y-your team k-kunoichi?" Hinata asked.

"She is a weapon specialist who possesses deadly aim," Neji explained. "I must say...as much as I despise my sensei at the moment, I do believe our team will be powerful and cohesive."

Hinata was pleasantly surprised. Neji was changing before her eyes. "N-Neji-niisan...I...I don't m-mean to s-sound rude...b-but what h-happened to y-your destiny m-mentality?" She was quiet. She really didn't want to offend her cousin. "Y-You always th-thought o-our destinies w-were laid b-before us. D-Do you c-continue to th-think l-like that...?"

Neji looked at his cousin and shook his head slightly. "We all have destinies, Hinata-sama. However...we should be able to make our own destinies. You have shown me that today."

"I...I did?"

"Yes. I have always seen you as weak, a pushover, and a timid failure," he admitted. "However, when Hiashi-sama struck you today and you stood your ground, I realized that you were not weak or a pushover." He paused a moment, then added, "However, you _are_ still timid."

Hinata sighed. "I know and...I w-wish to o-overcome my t-timidness. I do n-n-not wish t-to be a-afraid o-or freeze u-up w-when I am o-on a m-mission," she said, pushing her index fingers together.

"Then our training starts now. Before we work on stamina or your Jūken Style, we will work on your stutter and your timidness," he said firmly. "If you stutter when to speak to me, you will have to preform some sort of physical exercise...and it will not be pleasant. It will not be easy, Hinata-sama, and I will not go easy on you."

"Of course," she said firmly. She would do this, and she would do this right!

Neji gave his cousin a small smirk. "Excellent. We shall begin tomorrow afternoon when I return from my missions." He bowed to his cousin and turned to leave.

"Neji-niisan!" Hinata called. Neji turned around and made eye contact. "When we're in training, you don't have to call me Hinata-sama. Hinata is fine." She struggled, but she managed to not stutter. Stuttering had become a force of habit.

Neji nodded, bowed again, and left. Hinata smiled slightly to herself before leaving her room. She wasn't going to hide from her father, or the rest of the clan, because she was abused. She would walk out with pride and confidence. Well...as much pride and confidence as she could muster. As Hinata walked out towards the courtyard, she saw her father speaking with the Third Hokage.

"I wish to speak with you and your daughter, Hiashi," Hiruzen spoke. He looked fairly stern and serious.

Hiashi frowned. "I believe you cannot at the moment, Hokage-sama. She is being punished at the moment," he responded with a glare.

Hiruzen saw Hinata behind her father and smiled cheerfully. "Hinata, how wonderful to see you again. Will you come here?" he asked gently. Hiashi turned around and saw Hinata approaching them. "Hinata, does you father know why you were with Naruto this afternoon?"

"Not yet," the young girl answered, then turned to her father. "Naruto-kun a-and I h-have been training f-for the last f-few days, and h-he was t-treating me to l-lunch a-after a t-training session," she explained to her father.

Hiashi frowned. "You were training with that de-...boy?"

Hinata noticed her father almost let slip a word he did not want to say. And it didn't go unnoticed by Hiruzen either. "Yes, w-we've been t-training t-together...a-and I've already g-gotten stronger, Otou-sama."

"We shall see about that, Hinata." He turned back to Hiruzen. "If that is all you wish to discuss, Hokage-sama, I will return to my home."

"Actually, I want to talk to Hinata alone." Hiruzen noticed Hiashi's anger. Hiashi gave a small grunt before walking back to his home. "Hinata, did he do anything to you when you came home?"

Hinata stared at the Hokage for a few moments before hanging her head and giving him a quick "no." The aged Hokage stared at Hinata for a moment then sighed. "All right, Hinata. It's okay. Also, Naruto wants to know if you're okay."

Hinata's cheeks flushed and she fiddled with the hem of her jacket. "T-Tell him I-I'm fine...I p-promise." She was nervous now; not only was the Hokage suspicious of her abuse but Naruto was also worried about her! "H-Hokage-sama...?" Hinata whispered.

"Hmm? What is it, child?" he said with a grandfatherly smile.

"C-Can you t-tell N-N-Naruto-kun t-to train h-hard and to g-get stronger and that I'll...I'll try to s-see him if I-I can?" she asked with a shy smile. Hinata felt the Hokage's hand on top of her head as he gave her a soft smile.

"I will, Hinata. And thank you for being Naruto's friend," he answered, his smile never wavering. "I think I shall take my leave. Your father does not seem too pleased with my speaking to you. Hinata, if anything happens...please come to me," he told her.

"Thank y-you, Hokage-sama," she said, giving him a respectful bow. "E-Excuse me, Hokage-sama. I m-must get back t-to Otou-sama." She bowed again before turning to go back to the house.

Hiruzen smiled and left the compound. As he walked out, he found Naruto waiting for him. "Naruto?"

"What did Hinata say, Old Man?" Naruto asked, looking at him with sad, pleading eyes.

"She wants you to continue to train and be strong. She isn't sure when she can see you again, but she will try her hardest. She also said she will continue to train hard," he said, ruffling the boy's spiky hair.

"Will she still be my friend?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Yes, Naruto. She still very much wants to be your friend. Things are just complicated," he said with a somewhat forced smile. "Come. Let's get you back to your apartment, and I'll explain more. Okay?" Naruto nodded and the two walked back towards the main part of the village.

When Hinata walked into her home, Hiashi was standing there with an angry scowl on his face. "What did the Hokage want, Hinata?" he growled.

"He wanted t-to talk t-to m-me about m-my training w-with N-N-Naruto-Kun," Hinata said timidly. Hiashi glared at her. "I-It's the truth O-Otou-sama."

Hiashi growled and slapped his daughter again, his daughter's head moving with the slap. "I do not care about what you say. You are a lying harlot! You are not to leave the compound again until your classes start at the academy! Understood?" he roared.

Hinata's eyes widened. "Y-Yes, Otou-sama." She bowed to him begrudgingly and walked to her room as swiftly as she could.

As she rushed to her room, her sister had taken notice of Hinata's pink face and misty eyes and quickly followed. "Neesan?" Hanabi asked hesitantly.

"Not here, Hanabi..." Hinata said quietly. When the sisters reached her room, Hinata broke down. She fell to her knees, hugged her sister, and sobbed.

"N-Neesan?" Hanabi gasped. She knelt down next to her sister and hugged her back, letting Hinata cry. "What happened, Neesan?"

Hinata pulled away and wiped her tears. "Otou-sama slapped me..." Hanabi gasped. "Three times..." Hanabi couldn't believe it. "He...he also called me a...a harlot..." She choked out.

Hanabi felt tears of her own threaten to fall. Their father slapped her sister THRICE and practically called her a whore! "Why would he do that?"

"He found out I was training with Naruto-kun," she sighed. "I want to continue training with him, but if Father finds out...I'm afraid he won't let me attend the academy."

"So what are you going to do?" Hanabi asked.

"For now...I'm going to train with Neji-niisan. And...if I can...I'm going to try and train with Naruto, if possible," she said with a sigh. Taking a deep breath, she added more confidently, "It'll be difficult, but I will try to see him."

Hanabi smiled. "You're changing, Neesan. I like the change."

Hinata blushed slightly at her sister's compliment. "Thank you, Hanabi-chan." The Hyuuga sisters then took the opportunity to talk about the rest of their day and other insignificant topics.

.

.

.

Naruto sat in his apartment, eating his instant ramen in deep thought. _'I don't understand why Hinata's dad got so uptight about her eating __lunch with me. I didn't do anything wrong...did I?' _Naruto stared at his half-eaten ramen and made his decision. "I'm gonna go ask her!" He quickly downed the rest of his ramen before running out of his house.

Naruto must have wandered around for hours trying to find the Hyuuga Compound. When he was there earlier, he had followed the old man there. He hadn't been paying attention to any landmarks on the way there or anything like that. "Dammit! Where is this frickin' place?" he yelled.

"N-Naruto-kun...?" came a soft voice. Naruto blinked and turned around. He saw Hinata poking her head out of a window.

"Hinata! Alright! I finally found your house! So what's up? Is everything okay?" he said, walking over to the window.

Hinata blushed. _'He came to chec__k on me?'_ Hinata smiled slightly. "O-Otou-sama i-isn't t-too happy. I-I don't kn-know why." Hinata thanked Kami her room was the closest to the front of the compound. "I...I w-want to a-apologize f-for O-Otou-sama b-being so m-mean to you. I d-didn't like i-it."

Naruto stared at her for a moment. _'She's...apologizing. No one's apologized to me before.' _Naruto smiled. "It's fine, Hinata! Listen, old man Hokage told me that you would continue to train hard! So will I!"

Hinata blushed and giggled slightly. "Thank y-you, Naruto-kun. I p-promise I will t-train h-hard, too. B-But...O-Otou-sama w-won't let m-me leave th-the c-compound u-until the a-academy classes s-start again. I'm really sorry, Naruto-kun," Hinata said, hanging her head.

Naruto smiled. "It's okay Hinata. I'm not angry. Well...I'm kinda upset we can't train together...but it's okay! It's not your fault and it's not like you don't want to train with me, right?"

Hinata smiled. "I-I wish I c-could still t-train with you N-Naruto-kun."

"It's okay. We'll train as much as we can separately. And when we can train together again, I wanna see how good you got. Okay?" Naruto said enthusiastically.

"Y-Yes. I w-would like t-to see h-how st-strong you've b-become, a-also," Hinata said with a shy smile.

"Who's there?" yelled a patrolling Branch Member.

"N-Naruto-kun! R-Run!" Hinata said, panicking.

"Alright! See you around, Hinata!" Naruto called before disappearing before the Branch Member could arrive.

When the Branch Member did arrive, he saw Hinata resting against her window. "Hinata-sama? Was that you speaking?"

"Y-Yeah. Th-There w-was a squirrel a-and I s-spoke to it. D-Do not fret," she answered with a forced smile. The Branch Member smiled back, bowed, and returned to his post.

.

.

.

Naruto was sitting on top of Hokage Mountain; more specifically, he was perched atop the Fourth Hokage's head. He was really happy that he and Hinata were still friends despite the drama earlier. He wanted to get stronger. He just wasn't quite sure how, other than hard work. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "Maybe Iruka-sensei will know what to do!" he said happily. He stood up from his sitting position and looked over the village. "I will be Hokage," he said quietly, then raised his voice and yelled out, "YOU BETTER WATCH OUT KONOHA! I WILL BE HOKAGE ONE DAY!"

**~End Chapter!**

**Alright! So that is the end of the chapter! What did you think? Tell what you thought in a review! PLEASE! I wanna knoooooooooow! Also please vote in the poll! Thank you guys!**

**~L****u Lu-Chan**


	3. Back to School

**Back to School**

**Hey everyone! How's it going? I hope you enjoyed my first two chapters. I hope you enjoy this one. Please read and review! Also, my poll is still up. However, I think I know which two I'm going to pick despite what the poll is.**

**I would also like to thank my Beta, hinatasgreatestfan. Thank you!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. The end.**

"Again!" came a sharp command.

Hinata took a deep breath before she began to channel chakra into her fingertips. "Good. Now, activate your Byakugan," came her cousin Neji's voice. Hinata gave a small nod and activated her Kekkei Genkai. "Good, Hinata. You're able to activate it without speaking," Neji said with a smirk. "You may rest for a few moments."

"Okay...Neji-nii-san..." she said with labored breath. Hinata quickly sat down on the ground, Neji joining her.

"You're progressing well, Hinata," Neji said, sitting next to her. "You're not quite caught up to where I was last year, but you've improved far better than I thought you would," He gave his cousin a small smile along with his complimentary words.

"Thank you..." Hinata was still panting. For the past two months Hinata had undergone fairly rigorous training under Neji's watch. He had been teaching her all he could about the Byakugan, ninjutsu, and the JūkenStyle. Under Neji's training, Hinata had become much stronger. The Elders began to finally start seeing Hinata as the heiress she was, her father hadn't criticized her as much as he used to, and she even stopped stuttering.

Hinata was a little wary of Neji's sudden change of opinion in regards to her at first, but she gave him a chance, and he proved himself to her. She saw him legitimately try to be less cold to other Main Family members, as well as his own Branch members. Neji became less anti-social, although he still didn't speak much. He mainly spoke when spoken to, or when giving his opinion. Hinata was genuinely happy to have her cousin come to peace with his inner demons.

Neji stood up and looked down at Hinata. In a commanding tone, he told her, "Okay. There's one last thing I wish for you to do before we end our training session." Hinata nodded and stood up. "I wish for you to come at me with your strongest attack."

"Neji-nii-san, are you sure that is a wise decision? I'm rather tired and my chakra is nearly run out. Not to mention you aren't in much better shape," Hinata reasoned.

"I understand that. However, it is the last thing you need to do before we are finished. I believe you should be able to handle such a feat." He chuckled.

"As you wish, Neji-nii-san," Hinata took her stance and quickly charged at her cousin. The two exchanged blows, before Hinata began her attack. **"Jūken Style: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!"** Hinata started with a double palm strike, then two strikes, then four, then eight, and then with the final sixteen, finishing the thirty-two strikes. When Hinata hit the final chakra point, Neji flew back several feet. Hinata took several deep breaths and jogged over to her cousin. "Neji-nii-san, are you alright?" she said, kneeling next to him.

"Yes..." he groaned. "Please release my chakra points." Hinata nodded and did what she was asked. Neji sat up with another groan, but he was smiling proudly at his younger cousin. "I think our training is complete, Hinata. You've learned everything I have to teach you."

Hinata stared at Neji in shock. "Are you sure I'm ready?" Neji nodded. Hinata was smiling from ear to ear. "Thank you, Neji-nii-san!"

Neji nodded. "Now, I suggest you relax before your father calls you for dinner. You have trained very hard today."

Hinata bowed to Neji before leaving the courtyard. Hinata wanted, and desperately needed, a bath. As she walked to the hot springs, she had noticed her father approaching her. She inwardly groaned but stood up straight and bowed to him. "Good afternoon, Otou-sama," she said with an emotionless tone. She had become cold to her father. She still loved him; he was still her father, after all, and she was still hoping she'd see the man he used to be before her mother died. In the meantime, however, a cold manner was her best method of protecting herself from the pain he could otherwise inflict upon her heart.

"Hinata. What are you doing?" he asked coldly.

"I'm going to bathe, Otou-sama. I have been training, and I am rather dirty. I do not wish to be so when it is time for supper," she stated bluntly.

Hiashi stared at his daughter with cold and judging eyes. "Hmph. Continue on then," he grunted out. Hinata watched as her father walked away, before sticking her tongue out at his back. She walked into the room with the hot springs and sighed in relief.

Hinata quickly walked over to some shelving and undressed. She grabbed a white bathing towel and wrapped it around her body, then submerged herself into the steaming hot water. Hinata, when she was finally sitting in the spring, let out a sigh of relief. "This feels nice," Hinata soaked in the springs, easing her muscles and washing the sweat away. Hinata had noticed how her body had changed through all this training. Her stomach was flat and lean, void of any baby fat. Her legs had toned up as well. Her hair had also gotten longer. It was no longer in the hime-style cut she had sported for so long, it was now down to her shoulders.

Hinata stayed in the springs for about an hour longer, washing her hair and body, before getting out. She discarded the wet towel and put on a cotton yukata, leaving the hot springs. As she walked back to her room, she couldn't help but think about Naruto. '_I wonder how Naruto-kun is doing. I hope his training is going wel__l.'_

As the thought crossed Hinata's mind, Naruto was currently at his favorite spot, Ichiraku's. Naruto had been training nonstop since Hinata had been confined to her home.

Naruto had asked his academy sensei, Iruka, to help him with some extra training. Iruka told Naruto he would love to help, but was unable to. It would seem unfair for Iruka to train him while he didn't help any of his other students unless it was during classes or school. Naruto understood, continuing his training on his own.

Naruto had just finished his fourth bowl of ramen, and patted his stomach. "Ah! Delicious as always, Old Man!"

"Thanks Naruto," Teuchi chuckled. "So, Naruto. How's Hinata doing? Have you seen her lately?"

"I think she's doing okay. I mean, I sneak over to the Hyuuga compound once in a while to see how she's doing. The last time I was over there was a week ago. She seemed to be doing well and training hard." The blond had a bright smile. He was upset he couldn't see his friend everyday, but he was happy she was training hard. He noticed Ayame taking away his empty bowl and replacing it with a full one. "Thanks, Ayame-chan!" Naruto quickly began to slurp down the scrumptious noodles.

"Oh Naruto! I almost forgot to ask. Doesn't the Academy start in a few days?" Teuchi asked as he scrubbed a dirty pot.

"Yup! In three days!" Naruto continued to devour his ramen. "I'm so excited! In a couple of days, I'll get to see Hinata every day!"

Ayame gave Naruto a sly grin. "Ooooh! It seems to me you like this girl."

"Of course I like her! She's my friend," Naruto stated bluntly. It was apparent to Teuchi and Ayame that Naruto was oblivious to what Ayame meant. "Anyways, I'm really excited about the Academy. Even though Iruka-Sensei can't physically train me, he's given me some pointers. My ninjutsu and taijutsu have gotten really good. My genjutsu's still bad, but Iruka-sensei says that my chakra coils are too large for genjutsu,"

"That's wonderful, Naruto," Teuchi said, smiling sincerely. He was very happy for Naruto. He always thought of Naruto as a grandson of sorts.

"Yup! Oh! Wanna know the funniest thing about my training with Iruka-sensei?" He saw Ayame and Teuchi nod. "This purple-haired psycho kept like...tackling him to the ground, then running off cackling like a maniac. It was really funny!" Naruto exclaimed.

Ayame and Teuchi laughed. It was rather amusing. The shop owners and the blond chatted happily until Naruto left the restaurant. He walked through the village, a smile gracing his lips. As we wandered through the village, not really having anywhere to be, he noticed something familiar. The Hyuuga eyes. However, it wasn't Hinata's eyes. Naruto jogged over to the owner of the eyes. "Hey! You're a Hyuuga, right?" Naruto asked.

The Hyuuga turned, and a small smirk graced his lips. "So. You must be Naruto."

"Yeah. How'd ya know?" Naruto asked. Then it hit him. "Hey wait! You're the Hyuuga that graduated this year! Uuh...I can't remember your name..." Naruto said, scratching his head.

"It's Neji," he stated bluntly. Neji was taken aback. Neji had spoken up on more than one occasion when Iruka had asked a question. His name was also voiced many times in class. How could this blond not know his name? "What is it that you want, Naruto?"

"Oh yeah! You know Hinata, right?"

"She is a Hyuuga, so it's quite obvious that I know her," Neji bluntly stated. "She also happens to be my cousin."

"Awesome! Can you tell her I said hello?" Naruto asked with a hopeful look in his eyes.

Neji looked at Naruto for a moment and nodded. "I will. Now if you'll–"

"Neji! Hurry! Gai-sensei says he has another mission for us," Neji and Naruto turned and saw a girl with brown hair pulled up into two buns on her head. She was wearing a blue sleeveless blouse with dark green pants with her hitai-ate tied around her forehead. She ran up to Neji and Naruto and had a soft smile gracing her lips. "Come on, Neji. We better hurry before Gai-sensei gets impatient."

"Knowing Sensei, he'll probably do the mission himself before we get there," He sighed. "Let's go. I bid you farewell Naruto."

"Naruto?" Tenten blinked.

"Yup! That's me!" Naruto puffed out his chest proudly.

"Not to sound rude...but you failed the Genin test, right?" Tenten asked. She didn't want to be mean to the boy.

"Yeah...," he said a little dejectedly. "I wasn't working hard last year and I just did what I had to...so I failed the test. But this year I'm working super hard! I will pass the test this time!" he said confidently.

Tenten smiled, while Neji smirked. "That's a good answer Naruto. I wish you the best of luck," Tenten and Neji bade farewell to Naruto before returning to their sensei.

Naruto smiled. _'That girl was nice. So was the Hyuuga.' _Naruto now had a happy skip to his step.

.

.

.

Today was the day. The day the Academy started. Iruka was standing at the front of the class watching as this year's students began to pour in. _'This year's students are going to be the best Konoha's ever seen. I can feel it.' _Iruka noticed Naruto walking in with Hinata Hyuuga. '_I guess Naruto wasn't kidding. He _is_ friends w__ith the Hyuuga heiress.'_

Naruto led Hinata to a few seats in the middle row before sitting down. "I still couldn't believe that this psycho lady kept tackling Iruka-sensei. I swear Hinata, she just kept popping up!" Hinata giggled. "Anyways, did your training pay off?"

Hinata nodded. "My cousin helped me train. He taught me a lot."

"That's Neji, right?"

Hinata nodded. "Of course, Naruto-kun, I can't forget about your help. Because of you, I wanted to train hard and get stronger. Thank you," Hinata gave him a soft, gentle smile.

Naruto felt his cheeks burn and he gently scratched his nose. "You're welcome..." His attention turned from Hinata to Iruka when he heard the older man clear his throat.

"Welcome back students. I hope your break was pleasant," Iruka said with a smile. After some chatter from the students, the Chunin addressed them again. "This year, I'll be teaching you how to hone your skills to become a Genin. We'll be working on your taijutsu, your stamina, stealth, throwing skills, some ninjutsu, and genjutsu," he explained. "Today, we're going to do something different. I'm going to take you to the practice field to test your general skill level, while Mizuki-sensei with be speaking to you individually about what you can improve on." As he explained, a man of average height with white hair entered the room. "Ah, Mizuki, perfect timing. We were just about to head to the practice field."

"I guess it is perfect timing. Come on, kids. Let's head out," he said with a smirk. Mizuki led the group of students to the practice field with Iruka tailing them.

When they reached the practice field, Iruka broke the large group up. "Alright. I want this half to work with Mizuki-sensei, and this half to work with me," he ordered.

Mizuki looked at the group and realized he had all of the clan children: Sasuke Uchiha, Shino Aburame, Ino Yamanaka, Chouji Akimichi, Kiba Inuzuka, Shikamaru Nara, and Hinata Hyuuga. He also had Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki in his group. Mizuki had a smirk grace his lips. "All right kids. We're going to start with sparring. I'm going to pair you up and I want to see if you've improved over the break. Yamanaka, Inuzuka. You're up first."

"Alright! Let's go, Akamaru!" the Inuzuka boy cheered. Kiba was about five feet tall, tan, black eyes with slit pupils, messy brown hair, and had fairly prominent canine teeth. He wore a gray jacket with fur around the hood, dark gray pants that stopped mid-calf, and blue sandals. Akamaru, his white puppy, barked happily as the two of them stepped forward.

Ino Yamanaka was a thin girl with long blonde hair. She wore revealing purple clothing, showing off her slender body. A purple vest shirt with a raised collar with a purple skirt that had slits on the sides, bandages on her stomach and legs, and purple elbow warmers. Ino stared at Mizuki, then to Kiba. "I have to fight Dog-Breath? Ugh, why?" she groaned.

"Because I said so," Mizuki stated, a little annoyed by her question.

"But he smells like a wet dog!" she whined. Some of the students snickered. "I can't let this...smelly mutt come near me!"

Kiba glared. "Take it back!" Akamaru growled at the female blonde.

Mizuki sighed. "It's just a simple sparring match. Please...just...fight," he said, massaging his temples.

"No!" Ino said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Kiba was about to attack the girl, but Mizuki intervened. "Fine. Whatever. I know what you need to work on," he said, glaring at Ino.

Ino gasped. "Well..." she huffed, before returning to the group.

"Alright Shikamaru and...Where's Shikamaru?" he yelled. The group pointed to a shady spot several feet away. He was asleep under said shady spot. "Are you frickin' kidding me? Ugh...alright. Shino, Chouji. You're next," Mizuki was massaging his temples again. This group was going to be the death of him and it was only the first day.

Shino Aburame was the first to step forward. Shino had dark bushy brown hair, pale skin, and was the tallest ninja in the class. He wore a sea-green jacket with a high collar, and dark sunglasses.

His opponent, Chouji Akimichi, was snacking on a bag of barbecue potato chips. Chouji had brown spiky hair and swirl marks on his cheeks and was a little rotund. He put his bag of chips in his pocket and wiped the crumbs off his mouth. "I'm ready," he said clenching his fist, squatting down a little. Shino assumed his position as well.

"Remember, sparring only. No clan abilities." Which meant Chouji couldn't use any expansion ninjutsu to help him win the fight. It also meant Hinata couldn't use any chakra to shut off chakra points points when it was her turn. "Begin!"

Chouji was the first to charge. He threw a sloppy punch at Shino, who easily dodged it. Shino then countered with a kick of his own to Chouji's stomach. The large boy stumbled back a little bit and rubbed his stomach. "Ow..." He groaned. Chouji then threw another punch, but he was once again kicked by Shino. Chouji groaned again and raised his hands up. "I give!"

Mizuki sighed. "Alright. Shino, you're the victor. You and Chouji get back in line,"

Shino helped Chouji up, who smiled at the quiet boy. "Thank you," he said and the two walked back to the group.

"Alright. Hyuuga and Haruno. You're up," Mizuki said, leaning against a tree.

Sakura looked at Hinata and smirked. _'Hinata's so quie__t and weak. This should be easy.' _Sakura had long pink hair, emerald green eyes, and was just under five feet tall. She was wearing a pink qipao* dress with white circular designs, dark green spandex shorts, blue ninja sandals, and a red ribbon in her hair. She walked to the sparring field and looked at Hinata. "I won't be going easy on you Hinata," she said, clenching her fists and putting them in front of her.

Hinata sighed. "Don't underestimate me, Sakura-san," Hinata said before taking her Jūken stance.

Sakura scoffed and turned towards her long-time crush. "Oh, Sasuke-kun! Watch me, okay? I'm going to fight now!" She noticed Sasuke was ignoring her, and it annoyed her. "Oh, Sasuke-kun! Ow!" Sakura yelped as she fell to her butt. "Hinata! What the heck?"

Hinata smirked at Sakura. She had done a low spin kick and kicked Sakura off her feet. "Don't take your eyes off your opponent. It could prove fatal, Sakura-san."

Most of the kids snickered at Sakura's failure. Sakura's face went red with anger and embarrassment. She stood up and charged at Hinata with rage. Hinata sidestepped and threw a palm strike to the right side of Sakura's ribcage. Sakura yelped and held her ribs. "How'd you do that?" Sakura asked, dumbfounded. Hinata was never this strong before.

"While you were fawning over Uchiha-san, I was training hard to become stronger." She gave Naruto a quick glance out of the corner of her eyes before returning her sight to Sakura. "I told you not to underestimate me. Now you will lose."

"Yeah! You tell her Hinata!" Naruto cheered. Hinata's cheeks turned slightly pink, but she didn't take her eyes off Sakura.

"I won't lose, Hinata!" Sakura cried. She ran towards Hinata and threw a punch at the girl's face. Hinata countered with a palm strike and struck Sakura in the chest with another palm strike. Sakura skidded back several feet and placed her hand on her chest. "Jeez, Hinata! Do you have to hit me so hard?" Sakura complained.

"Do you think, if you're fighting an enemy ninja, they'll go easy on you? Guess again," Hinata said before charging at Sakura. Hinata threw a double palm strike at Sakura, who managed to barely dodge it. Sakura threw a kick towards Hinata's chest. Hinata bent backwards and landed into a bridge position. She then preformed a back walk over, kicking Sakura in the process.

Sakura gasped and stumbled backwards, landing on her butt again, holding the left side of her chin. Sakura was in complete shock. _'How did Hinata get so strong?'_

Mizuki watched the spar and was shocked as well as the rest of the group, aside from Naruto. "Alright. The match is over. Hinata, you're obviously the winner."

Hinata bowed to Mizuki and thanked him, then turned to Sakura. She held out her hand to help Sakura up. Sakura looked at Hinata's hand and slapped it away. "I don't need your help, Hinata. I can get up on my own," she snapped. Sakura indeed got up on her own, then walked over to Sasuke to ask him how she did.

Hinata sighed and returned to the group. She was welcomed back with a hug from Naruto. "N-Naruto-kun?" That was the first time Hinata had stuttered in over a month.

"You did so well, Hinata! I couldn't believe how strong you were! You were amazing!" Naruto screamed. He let go of Hinata and smiled. "I knew you could get strong!"

Hinata blushed and smiled shyly. "Thank you Naruto-kun. Good luck in your spar,"

"Thanks Hinata!" Naruto stepped forward, not needing to be called. He and Sasuke were the last ones left. "Ready Sasuke-teme?"

"You won't win Dobe. I will always be the best, and you will always be the worst," he bluntly stated.

"You may be the best now, Teme. But that doesn't mean you'll always be the best," Naruto smirked. "I've been training all break, and I won't be losing today."

"We'll see, Dobe,"

Mizuki, who had been listening to the teens' conversation, was slightly shocked to hear that Naruto trained over break. Mizuki was going to pay extra attention to Naruto in this match. "All right, begin."

Naruto was the first to attack. He jumped in the air, spun and threw a kick at Sasuke. Sasuke dodged and punched at Naruto when he landed. The punch connected, but Naruto performed another spin kick, his foot connecting with Sasuke's face.

Sasuke flew to the ground, and stared at it in shock. He then turned to Naruto, the look of shock still present. "You...You kicked me..."

"Uh...duh! Why else would you be on the ground? And you call me 'the Dobe'," Naruto joked.

Chouji and Kiba snickered, Kiba muttering about the "burn". Sasuke growled as he stood up, "Shut up. I will beat you, Dobe." Sasuke charged and punched at Naruto. Naruto dodged, but was caught by surprise when Sasuke pulled an upper cut, striking Naruto in the chin.

Naruto flew back several feet and landed on the ground with a thud. Naruto groaned and sat up. "Ow..." he said, rubbing his now sore chin. Naruto stood up and took his stance again. "You won't get that lucky again, Teme," he said before charging again.

Naruto and Sasuke traded blows, the two seeming even in power. Everyone watched in awe. They couldn't believe Sasuke was having trouble fighting Naruto. They also couldn't believe how strong Naruto had become over the break.

Sasuke had managed to punch Naruto in the stomach, causing him to skid on the ground. Naruto groaned in pain and fell to one knee. "Ch...Cheap shot..," Naruto groaned again.

Sasuke smirked. "You're just weak."

"Teme!" Naruto yelled.

"Alright. Alright. Enough. Sasuke, you're the winner," Mizuki intervened.

"We're not finished!" Naruto said standing up. "I can still fight!"

"That may be, but I've seen enough," he stated. "Alright. Since we're nearing the afternoon, go ahead and get lunch, and I'll talk to you individually," The kids bowed to Mizuki before turning to go back into the Academy. "Naruto. Come here. I'd like to talk to you first."

Naruto stopped and looked at Mizuki. "Okay." He then turned to Hinata and smiled. "I'll catch up with you in a little while, okay?"

"Okay. See you in a little while, Naruto-kun," she said with a smile. Now she could surprise him with a bento she made for him.

Naruto walked up to Mizuki and crossed his arms. "What do I need to work on Mizuki-sensei?"

"I will say Naruto, I'm surprised by how much stronger you are. But it's still not enough. There was no way you would have beaten Sasuke in that sparring match," Mizuki explained.

"Yes I would, if you actually let us continue the fight!" Naruto argued.

"Don't talk back to your sensei, Naruto," Mizuki scolded. Naruto crossed his arms and pouted, and let Mizuki continue. "You're hot-headed and rush into an attack without analyzing the situation or making a plan. That could get you killed in a fight. I will, however, let you in on something to get some extra credit to help you graduate."

Naruto looked at Mizuki with slightly large eyes. "Will it actually get me to graduate?" Naruto asked.

"If you do exactly as I say, I'll make sure you graduate." Mizuki smirked. _'This boy is playing right into my hands.'_ Mizuki then cleared his throat and continued. "There's this large scroll hidden in the Hokage's office that I hid," Mizuki lied. "I want you to find it when the Hokage leaves for the night. Once you find it, I want you to write down one jutsu per night and bring it to me the next day," Mizuki explained.

"And this will help me graduate?" Naruto asked, still eyes wide. Mizuki nodded. "Okay Mizuki-sensei! You can count on me!"

"One more thing Naruto. You can't tell anyone. If anyone else found out, they would want to get extra credit too. This one is specifically for you, okay?" Mizuki explained.

"Okay! Thank you Mizuki-sensei!" Naruto shouted, before running back towards the Academy.

Mizuki chuckled, before a wicked grin appeared. _'Such a moron. Soon, the Forbidden Scroll's secrets shall be mine. Orochimaru-sama will be most pleased.'_ Mizuki chuckled again and returned to the Academy as well.

As Naruto neared the building, he noticed Hinata walking towards him. He smiled and rushed towards her, a bright smile gracing his face. He noticed Hinata holding two bento boxes. "Hinata, did you make lunch?"

Hinata nodded, her cheeks slightly pink. "I made bento boxes for us," she answered, her eyes directed at the boxes. She gasped when she felt Naruto hug her. "Naruto-kun?"

"You're the best Hinata! Come on! I can't wait to eat what you've made!" he said, walking to a lunch table with Hinata. Naruto sat down at the table, Hinata sitting across from him. She handed him a bento box, which he quickly opened to see what delicious devour-ables were inside. As he removed the lid, his eyes widened and a small sliver of drool was beginning to creep out of the corner of his mouth. "Holy...cow...Hinata! This looks awesome!" Naruto yelled.

Hinata blushed slightly. "Thank you Naruto-kun. I know you liked my cooking last time, so I thought I would make something for our first day back at the Academy," Hinata smiled.

"It looks so good! What'd you make?"

"There's steamed rice, sunomono again, mori soba, and sweet and salty tamagoyaki," she answered. "I hope you enjoy it."

"Oh I will!" Naruto gave thanks for his food, thanked Hinata, and dug into the food. He started eating the mori soba. It tasted almost like cold ramen. "Wow Hinata! This is amazing! I wish I could cook like you!" he said shoveling more noodles into his mouth.

"It isn't that difficult. Perhaps I could teach you sometime," she offered.

Naruto thought for a moment. _'Hinata teaching me how to cook would mean I would have to go to her house. But...I don't think it would be a good idea. She could come to my apartment, but she's used to very nice and expensive __things. She'd be embarrassed to come to my apartment...'_

"Naruto-kun?"

"Oh, sorry Hinata. Don't worry about teaching me. I'm not very competent in the kitchen," Naruto chuckled nervously. Naruto then continued to chow down on the lunch Hinata made. "Who taught you how to cook?" Naruto asked innocently.

"My okaa-chan taught me before she passed away," Hinata said quietly. She indeed missed her mom, but crying and staying sad wasn't going to bring her back.

"I'm sorry, Hinata," Naruto said, genuinely sad for Hinata. Not having parents made him sensitive to people who had lost parents as well. "But your okaa-san is probably watching you from Heaven and proud of you."

Hinata's eyes widened. No one had ever sad anything like that about her mother. Her father would normally tell her her mother would be upset and discouraged by her weakness. The Branch members would usually say she looked and acted like her mother, but that was the extent of it. Hinata had a few tears trickle down her cheek. "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to make you cry!" Naruto panicked.

"I'm not upset with you, Naruto-kun. I'm happy!" Hinata was beaming. "Thank you for telling me that,"

"Oh...you're welcome." Naruto smiled back. Naruto and Hinata chit-chatted about their break and the training they'd each done until Mizuki called Hinata over.

"I'll be back soon, Naruto-kun." She gave him a wave and walked over towards Mizuki.

Naruto then focused back on his lunch. He began to eat the tamagoyaki. _'This is__ so good. I'm going to have to see if Hinata can make me lunch everyday!'_

"Hey! Dobe!" Naruto turned around and groaned. Sasuke was walking towards him. "What are you eating?" he smirked.

"What do you want, Teme?" Naruto said before putting another slice of tamagoyaki in his mouth.

"Who would want to make you lunch?" He said grabbing a slice and popped it in his mouth. Naruto was about to retort, but he saw Sasuke's face grim slightly before the Uchiha spat out the food. "Ugh! That's sweet!"

Naruto snickered. "There's sweet and salty tamagoyaki. Looks like you got the sweet kind," Naruto laughed. A lot of people knew that Sasuke hated sweets, but that didn't stop his fangirls from trying to give him chocolate or candy.

Sasuke was spitting and gagging as Hinata came running back to the picnic table. "Naruto-kun guess what...Sasuke-san, are you okay?"

"That crap you made nearly made me sick!" he said, spitting the last bit of the sweetness out of his mouth.

Hinata was confused slightly, until Naruto explained that Sasuke stole a piece of his sweet tamagoyaki. Hinata then became irritated. "No offense, Sasuke-san, but the lunch I made was not intended for you. I made a lunch for Naruto-kun and myself. You had no right to just take a piece of Naruto-kun's lunch," Hinata stated firmly.

Sasuke was shocked. Hinata had never been this firm and confident before. Sasuke could hear Naruto trying to hide his laughter, though he was failing miserably. Sasuke scoffed and turned to leave. "Whatever."

Hinata and Naruto watched him leave, before Naruto burst into hysterical laughter. "Oh wow Hinata! The...The look on-on Sasuke-teme's face!" Naruto laughed. When Naruto finally regained his composure, he gave Hinata a beaming smile. "That was amazing. You're definitely an awesome person, Hinata-chan."

Hinata's eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. _'He...He called me Hinata-chan...He called me Hinata-chan!'_ Hinata inwardly celebrated. "Thank you Naruto-kun."

"Sure sure! Oh, what did Mizuki-sensei say? Did he say you were awesome?" he shouted.

"He said that I have improved, and that it was a pleasant surprise. He said he looks forward to future progress," Hinata nodded.

"Wow. That's a better critique than I got," Naruto stated before shoveling more soba in his mouth.

"What did Mizuki-sensei say to you?"

"Well...he said that I'm hot-headed, and that's bad. I rush into a fight without making a plan of action," he said, somewhat embarrassed. "I guess I need to learn some patience."

He and Hinata laughed and finished their lunch. Mizuki blew a whistle, which meant lunch was over and everyone had to return to their designated sensei and practice field. When the children gathered around, Mizuki had them do some kunai and shuriken throwing and run the obstacle course. During throwing practice Naruto had noticed Sakura wasn't near Sasuke, so he took the opportunity to talk to her.

"Neh, Sakura-chan?" Naruto said walking up to the pinkette. "What are you doing after class today?" he asked innocently.

"Hmph! It's none of your concern Naruto. I'm not going on a date with you to that stinky ramen shop!" Sakura bluntly stated.

Hinata had noticed Naruto fawning over Sakura. She couldn't help but feel jealous. She was happy she and Naruto were friends, but she wanted more. She wanted to walk away, but she couldn't help but eavesdrop. And she wasn't the only one. The whole group, including Mizuki, was listening in on the conversation.

Naruto's eyes widened. "But Sakura-chan...it's so delicious! And I'll even pay for everything. Come on Sakura-chan! Just one date!" he pleaded. Naruto yelped and fell down, a sharp sting on his cheeks. He looked up and realized Sakura had slapped him. "Sakura-chan..."

"Listen to me, Naruto! I love Sasuke-kun! You need to get that through your fat head and leave me alone! We'll never have a date, and we'll never be friends! So leave me alone!" she yelled. Sakura didn't see the look of hurt on Naruto's face, and turned around with a scoff. "You'll never be as cool as Sasuke-kun. You'll never be as good as Sasuke-kun! So just leave me alone!" she yelled before walking away to go back to Sasuke.

Naruto stared as Sakura started walking away. Naruto felt tears threaten to fall. He wanted to cry, but he couldn't do it here. Not with everyone watching. He gasped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Hinata smiling down at him. Naruto wiped the tears away and smiled up at her. "Funny huh? I trained to be strong...but I'm being weak," Naruto tried to laugh, but it came out as a sob.

Hinata sighed and gently hugged Naruto. Naruto gasped again. "Sakura doesn't know the real you Naruto. Anyone would be lucky to be with you," she stated. _'Will I be lucky? Why can't you see that I love you Naruto-kun?'_

Naruto's eyes widened at hearing what Hinata had said. He slowly put his arms around her, and let out his breath, that he didn't realize he was holding. After a few moments he pulled away, and had a genuine smile on his face. "Thank you Hinata-chan. I'm so glad to have a friend like you!"

Hinata smiled back. "You're welcome Naruto-kun." It was at that precise moment that Hinata noticed all eyes were on them. Hinata felt slightly uncomfortable.

"Awkwaaaaaaard," Kiba voiced.

"Alright, enough. Hinata, Naruto...whatever is going on right now...stop it and focus," Mizuki ordered.

"Yes Sensei," they said together.

"Good, now let's continue," Mizuki said turning back to the target.

.

.

.

The first day of the Academy was over, and Naruto and Hinata walked out side by side. "So what do you wanna do Hinata-chan? We could go get some ramen!" Naruto suggested all too eagerly.

Hinata giggled at Naruto's enthusiasm. She was about to reply when she spotted a Branch member. Hinata sighed and turned to Naruto with a sad expression. "It appears my father wants me to come home immediately after classes. I'm really sorry Naruto-kun."

Naruto noticed the Branch member and stuck his tongue out at him. "Come on Hinata-chan!" Naruto grabbed her wrist and took off running the opposite direction of the Branch member.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata gasped in surprise. "Slow down!" She looked behind her and saw the Branch member chasing after them. "Naruto-kun! He's following us."

Naruto looked back as well and frowned. "Run faster Hinata-chan!" Naruto continued to run, dragging Hinata with him. Naruto continued to drag Hinata until he spotted a bundle of bushes and leapt into them with Hinata.

"Naruto-kun, what are you mmph!" Hinata's eyes widened and her face turned slightly pink. Naruto had his hand over her mouth, and his face was close to hers.

"Shhh," Naruto and Hinata watched as the Branch member ran by the bushes. They waited for several moments before coming out of the bushes. "Sorry about that, Hinata-chan. I wanted to hang out for a little while. It's been a long time since we've gotten to hang out."

Hinata's face become a little more pink. "Naruto-kun..." Hinata smiled. "What do you want to do, Naruto-kun?"

"Well I was thinking–" Naruto stopped when he sensed someone standing behind him. Naruto slowly turned around and saw the Hyuuga standing over him with a glare. "Uh...I'm guessing you want Hinata-chan...huh?"

The branch member growled and pushed Naruto away from Hinata. "Come Hinata-sama. Your father wishes to see you immediately."

Hinata gasped when the Branch member grabbed her wrist and began to drag her away. "Wait! Stop pulling!" Hinata struggled.

"Please be silent, Hinata-sama," he growled.

"No! You didn't need to push Naruto-kun!" she yelled, still struggling to get free. She saw Naruto rush past her and punch the older Hyuuga. "Naruto-kun!"

"You let go of Hinata-chan!" he yelled.

The Hyuuga held his stomach and growled. "Step away from Hinata-sama, or I will force you," the Hyuuga threatened.

Naruto growled and went to attack, but Hinata stopped him. "Naruto-kun! It's okay. I promise we can hang out tomorrow. I don't want to cause trouble for you or anyone else."

"But Hinata-chan!"

"It's okay Naruto-kun. I promise." She turned to the Branch member. "I promise," she said with a slight glare, which meant: "You make up an excuse for me coming home late tomorrow."

"Okay! If you promise!" Naruto smiled. Naruto trusted Hinata.

Hinata smiled and turned back to the older Hyuuga. "All right Junichi-san. Let's go." The Hyuuga, now named Junichi, nodded at the young heiress. "I'll see you tomorrow Naruto-kun," she promised with a smile.

"Bye Hinata-chan!" Naruto waved with a smile, but his smile faded when Hinata and Junichi's figures faded. Naruto was sad that Hinata was escorted away, but he had hope that she would hang out with him tomorrow.

.

.

.

When Hinata and Junichi reached the Hyuuga compound, Hinata stopped him. "Junichi-san, I'm sure my father has asked you to escort me home every day after class, am I correct?"

"Yes, Hinata-sama."

"Tomorrow I will be spending time with Naruto-kun after class. You may come as well if you wish to watch over me, but when you do escort me home after Naruto-kun and I hang out, will you tell Otou-Sama that you escorted me through town so I may window shop?" Hinata didn't like to lie, but she did want to hang out with Naruto, and if lying was how she was going to do it, then so be it.

"Hinata-sama, I do not wish to lie to Hiashi-sama," Junichi said, slightly afraid of the job Hinata had asked of him.

"Like I said, you may follow us, so technically I am with you. Technically you won't be lying, you just won't be telling the whole truth." Hinata smiled.

Junichi stared at Hinata for a moment, then sighed. "All right, Hinata-sama."

"Thank you Junichi-san!" She bowed to the man before entering the premises. She didn't see her father in the main room, and he wasn't in his office. Hinata guessed he was in the courtyard training Hanabi, and she was correct. Hinata approached her sister and father and bowed. "Otou-sama, I'm home."

"I can see that. Hinata, approach," he commanded. Hinata did as she was commanded, and approached her father and sister. "You are to spar with Hanabi."

Hinata's eyes widened slightly. She didn't like hurting her sister. She didn't even want to harm Neji in their training, but Neji told her that inflicting damage is inevitable. Hinata had to push aide her soft side if she was to become a strong kunoichi. She turned to her sister, who gave a slight nod. Hinata gave a slight nod back in understanding. Hanabi didn't want her sister to hold back. "All right, Otou-sama."

Hiashi was taken slightly by surprise. Hinata normally was very hesitant about sparring with her sister. "Good. The Elders shall be arriving shortly to view your spar," Hiashi stated before walking to the raised floor to sit.

Hinata and Hanabi took their respective positions, and waited for the Elders to arrive. Within minutes, the Elders came and took their seats next to Hiashi. Hiashi then spoke. "Begin."

Hanabi and Hinata took their stances, and Hanabi charged at her sister. Hanabi threw a palm strike at her sister. Hinata blocked the palm strike by grabbing her sister's wrist and throwing a palm strike at Hanabi's shoulder. Hanabi flew backwards and landed on her back with a thud.

Hiashi and the Elders were taken by surprise when Hinata had landed a hit on Hanabi. Hanabi stood up and charged again. Hinata sidestepped past Hanabi and threw a double palm strike at her sister's back. Hanabi flew forward and skidded across the floor for several inches.

"Hinata-sama has really come along in her training," commented an Elder. "She will make a fine heiress in due time." Hiashi only grunted in response.

Hanabi rushed forward again, Hinata rushing towards her sister as well. They traded blows for several moments, blocking and throwing strikes. Hinata found a small opening and struck Hanabi's ribs. Hanabi yelped and tumbled to the side.

"Alright. That's enough," Hiashi interrupted. "I've seen enough,"

Hanabi stood up and faced her father, Hinata doing the same. Hiashi looked at the two sisters and left them and the Elders.

Hinata and Hanabi were confused, but the Elders were pleased. "Hiashi-sama is pleased with your progress Hinata-sama," one Elder said.

"How do you know?" Hanabi questioned.

"Just trust me. Your father is most pleased," the Elder said, leading the others away.

Hinata and Hanabi looked at each other and smiled.

.

.

.

"Argh! Stupid Mizuki-sensei! He just had to hide that damn scroll in a place I can't find!" Naruto complained. Naruto had been complaining to himself for an hour. He had practically destroyed the Hokage's office. Naruto shoved the Hokage's desk out of frustration. He saw a small slip of paper fall from underneath the desk.

"Huh?" Naruto knelt down and picked up the paper. He studied the paper for a moment, realizing the paper was a seal. Naruto had a wicked grin creep up on his face. "Ooooh. Why do you have a seal under your desk, Old Man?" Naruto asked himself. Naruto had to think back to how to release seals. It took him a few moment to recall the lessons. "Blood or a hand seal...hmm..." Naruto decided to do the hand seal first, but it failed. "Okay...so blood then," Naruto bit his thumb and dragged his bloody thumb across the seal.

There was a sudden puff of smoke. A large green scroll had replaced the small paper seal. Naruto's wicked grin grew. "I foooooound it!" he said in a sing-song voice. Naruto opened the scroll and his eyes widened. "Wow. There are a lot of jutsus in here!" Naruto grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil off the Hokage's desk. The first jutsu he saw was the Shadow Clone Jutsu. He began to copy down the forbidden technique. After a few moments the technique was copied and Naruto pocketed the piece of paper. Naruto attempted several times to return the scroll to a piece of paper, but it wasn't working.

"Aw man! And I have to clean up this damn mess!" Naruto grumbled, then got to work cleaning up the Hokage's destroyed office.

After about two hours, Naruto had finally managed to clean up the office. "All done!" Naruto then looked at the large green scroll. "Now what am I going to do with you?" Naruto asked himself. Naruto just decided he was going to hide the large scroll under the Hokage's desk. "He won't notice." Naruto jumped out of the Hokage's window and shut it behind him.

Naruto leapt onto the ground, and pulled out the piece of paper. _'Shadow Clone Jutsu huh? I think Mizuki-sensei could wait a couple days for this.'_ Naruto smirked and re-pocketed the piece of paper.

**End Chapter**

***Qipao- It's a Chinese style dress**

**I hope you enjoyed it! PLEASE REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! Thank you. **

**~Lu Lu-Chan**


	4. That Wasn't Supposed to Happen

**Chapter 4**

** PEOPLE! Here it is! Chapter four! I hope you enjoy it. Sorry it took me so long to write it. I had the idea to put into the chapter, just now how to put it together! SORRY!**

**Anyways hope you enjoy this chapter! Also I'd like to thank my Beta hinatasgreatestfan. THANK YOU!**

**Dislcaimer: I don't own Naruto...I'm too screwed up...YAY!**

A black shadow ran from roof to roof, as silently as possible, towards the Hokage Tower. _'This time I want to get a powerful jutsu!'_ Naruto thought as he got closer to the Tower. _'I hope the Old Man didn't re-hide the scroll. But I'm prepared this time.'_ Naruto smirked. Naruto reached the Tower and climbed into the Hokage's office through the large windows.

Naruto instantly ducked under the desk to find the seal. "Wha...it's...it's not here." Naruto frowned. "Maybe Old Man Hokage found out it was me..." Naruto scooted out from underneath the desk and stood up. "Well...looks like this is a perfect time to test it out." Naruto made the appropriate hand sign and smirked. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Within seconds ten clones of Naruto were standing before the original. "Alright troops!" Naruto began. "We're looking for a seal! It's on a yellow slip of paper. It was underneath the Old Man's desk last night, and it's not there now. Now...let's get searching!" Naruto yelled.

The clones saluted to their creator and the eleven Narutos began their attack on the Hokage's office. Within a matter of minutes, the Hokage's office was completely destroyed. One clone had stopped his search and was playing around with the Hokage's hat. "Hey guys! Check me out! I'm livin' the dream!" he joked.

The other clones turned to look at him and laughed. The original was a little miffed. "Hey! Knock it off! We have to find the damn seal!" he yelled, swiping the hat from the clone. "Get back to—" He stopped with a grin as he looked into the hat. "Well, hellooooo. Found it!" he yelled, reaching into the hat and pulling the seal out.

The clone frowned. "I helped!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Okay, guys, I'm gonna start writing the next jutsu down, you guys start cleaning up," Naruto said, unsealing the scroll from the seal. The clones quickly got to work, and Naruto opened up the scroll.

"Okay let's see..." Naruto said reading the scroll. "No that one looks dumb...no, not strong enough. Hmm...Burning Ash...This jutsu requires keen senses to read the air currents, the insight to read the movements of the enemy, the tactical experience to not also enfold one's allies in the flames, and careful attention for the timing of the ignition. The user spews a stream of chakra infused gunpowder from their mouth, which surrounds the region. As the gunpowder is composed entirely of ash, it stays in the air around the victim like a cloud, which can be used like a smokescreen. After surrounding the enemy with the ash, the user can ignite it with a flint placed on their teeth beforehand to create a spark, resulting in a violent explosion, burning the enemy." Naruto read to himself. The blonde's lips curved into a smirk. "This will be perfect!" Naruto almost shouted.

As Naruto wrote down the instructions and description of the jutsu, and the clones continued to clean, a pair of chocolate brown eyes watched the blonds at work. _'It's just as Hokage-sama suspected. Why are you doing this, Naruto-kun?'_ The eyes then slipped back into the shadows and vanished.

Naruto rolled the scroll back up and smiled. "Awesome job, guys!" The Hokage's office was almost clean. Naruto pocketed the new jutsu and looked back at the scroll. "Well, at least I read up on re-sealing you," he said to the scroll. He bit his thumb and dragged his blood over the scroll again, causing it to disappear back into the seal.

"Hey Boss-Man!" one clone called. "Check this out." Naruto turned to the clone and saw him holding a black journal.

"What is it?" Naruto said taking the book out of the clone's hands.

"I dunno," the clone said before going back to work.

Naruto examined the outside of the book and found it didn't say anything. Naruto opened it up and was immensely surprised. The first page was written by the First Hokage! Naruto, being instantly intrigued, began reading.

_Today marks the day of a new beginning. Today marks the building of Konohagakure no Sato. I have been appointed by the people, the Senju Clan (my clan), and the Uchiha Clan to be the leader of this village. A title has not been issued for the leader, however it is of little importance at the moment. Uchiha Madara's attitude toward our alliance and the infrastructure of the new village has been particularly problematic. He believes he should become the leader; however, I worry about him. His intentions are unclear at the moment, but I am very suspicious of him. I have a feeling that Uchiha Madara is already plotting much against the newly created Konohagakure no Sato._

"Wow..." Naruto was flabbergasted. "It's the First Hokage's journal! Awesome!" Naruto looked up and saw all of the office clean and his clones waiting for any other command. "Awesome job, guys! You're done." The clones nodded and dispersed. Naruto then got up and sat in the Hokage's chair. "Boy I can't wait to sit in this chair as Hokage." he said to himself, smiling. Naruto then opened the book and skimmed over more of the journal and realized it wasn't just the First Hokage's Journal, it held lost information on Konoha from _all_ the Hokages.

"No way. No frickin' way!" Naruto yelled. "This is all of Konoha's secrets! Oh, baby. I could totally use this!" Naruto continued to skim until something caught his eye. _'Madara Uchiha? That was in the First Hokage's entries. The Shodai wrote that he died. Why is he in here again?'_

Naruto checked who wrote the entry and his eyes widened slightly. _'The Old Man?'_

_What I have to write, I write in complete and abject sorrow. The Uchiha Clan is near extinct, and I let it happen._

Those first two sentences nearly stopped Naruto from reading. "No way. The...he..." Naruto couldn't even comprehend what he was going to say. Naruto continued to read.

_Uchiha Itachi, son of Uchiha Fugaku, who was head of the clan, was asked by the clan to become a spy for them and spy on Konoha while he was an ANBU. Itachi feared the Uchihas would betray Konoha and attack their home village, and so he decided to become a double agent. Sadly, The Uchihas didn't trust Itachi as I had hoped. They began to doubt him. Once again, unfortunately, Itachi had a falling out with his father...and most of the clan._

_The day the Council ordered him to kill his clan, he pleaded one thing. He wished to keep his brother alive. The council ordered him to kill everyone, but he disobeyed and kept his brother alive. He told his brother to hate him and become an avenger in the hopes that he would redeem the Uchiha name by killing him._

_Itachi went into hiding for several days after the massacre before coming to me with disturbing news. He suspects Tobi, his accomplice in the massacre, to be the presumed dead Uchiha Madara. As much as I wish to disagree with him, from what Itachi has said about Tobi, the similarities between Tobi and Madara are uncanny. I have come to truly believe Uchiha Madara is alive and most likely still planning to attack Konoha._

_The day he came out of hiding to speak to me, he begged me to do two things: look after Uchiha Sasuke and to never tell him the truth about the Uchiha Massacre. To my surprise, and that of the rest of the council, he threatened them and Danzo not to touch his brother, or the whole Uchiha Massacre would be revealed._

_Itachi also told me one more thing: he wanted to join Akatsuki. I begged him not to join, but he said he must join until Sasuke seeks him out and kills him. I begged again, but he refused. Finally, I asked him if he would do me one favor. I asked him to, once again, become a double agent. I knew Akatsuki was dangerous, and with the jinchuriki out there, including Naruto, it would be beneficial for us, as well as himself, to be a double agent. I also told him that, if somehow Sasuke found out, he would be able to come back, and his crimes would be forgiven._

_For future Hokages: Uchiha Itachi is innocent. Uchiha Madara is alive._

Naruto couldn't believe what he read. Not only was the whole Uchiha Massacre Konoha's _**Council's**_ idea, but he was a _jinchuriki..._whatever that was.

Naruto wanted to read more, but he wasn't sure if his brain could take all that information. He kinda wanted to read the Fourth Hokage's secrets but decided that was better left for another day...if he could find the book again.

Naruto checked his pockets to make sure he had the new jutsu, then quickly left. As he returned to his apartment, the new knowledge of what he read couldn't leave his mind. He knew he couldn't tell anyone. It was one of Konoha's greatest secrets! So that's what he was gonna do. Keep it a secret.

.

.

.

The next day, Naruto arrived at the Academy a little early. He saw that his spot next to Hinata was taken thanks to Kiba. He then saw Sasuke in his little secluded corner, and decided to sit next to him. "Hey Sasuke," he said before sitting next to him.

Sasuke was taken by surprise. He had made it very clear that no one was to sit next to him. So why was this dobe going against his rule? "Hn. Why are you sitting next to me, Dobe?"

Before Naruto could answer, Sasuke's fangirls instantly jumped on Naruto. "What are you doing, Naruto? Sasuke said no one could sit next to him! Not even us!" Sakura yelled.

"Yeah!"

"That's right!"

"What makes you so special?" Ino screamed.

Hinata was tuning out Kiba, who was trying to impress her with random stories about his jutsu he could do with Akamaru. She heard many of the girls shouting at Naruto, who was sitting next to Sasuke. Hinata was a little confused as to why Naruto was sitting with Sasuke. There were other open seats that weren't near the Uchiha.

Naruto looked at the fangirls and shrugged. "Nothing makes me special."

"Exactly!" Sakura yelled. "So move! Leave Sasuke alone! He's too cool to be hanging out with a loser like you!"

Naruto winced slightly. Not because of the insult, but because Sakura was as loud as a banshee. "So...that must be why you guys can't sit with him, either," he said, pointing to the fangirls. Shock flashed over the girl's faces.

The class erupted into laughter. Even Sasuke couldn't help but smirk. Sakura's face went red with anger. She pulled her fist back and punched Naruto in the face. The classroom went silent. Naruto, who had fallen off his seat from the punch, looked up at Sakura. "What the hell Sakura?" he yelled.

"How dare you?" Sakura screeched. "How dare you call me a loser! You're the biggest loser around! No one likes you! No one wants you around! You've failed the Genin test twice! You'll never make it as a ninja, Naruto! So just give up!"

Everyone was a little shocked to hear Sakura say those things to Naruto. Everyone knew Naruto wasn't Sakura's favorite person, but they never thought she could get that nasty.

Fueled by rage, Hinata approached Sakura. She spun Sakura around and slapped her. Sakura, along with everyone in the room, was taken by surprise. "No, Sakura. How dare you." She frowned.

Sakura put her hand on her sore cheek. "What the heck Hinata? Why did you slap me?" Sakura exclaimed.

"You punched Naruto. I think he should have slapped you, but Naruto is too kind to lay a hand on someone he cares about," she stated bluntly.

Sakura growled and took a fighting stance.

Naruto stood up and spoke. "I wouldn't do that, Sakura. Hinata totally kicked your butt last time," he chuckled.

"Oh yeah? And who's gonna stop me from kicking Hinata's butt this time?" Sakura said confidently.

As if on cue, Iruka came in to start the class. He saw Sakura ready to fight, Hinata looking rather angry, and Naruto on the floor. "What is going on here?" Iruka asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Iruka-sensei! Naruto was being mean to me!" Sakura whined.

"What? You started it Sakura!" Naruto yelled. "You got all pissy with me just for sitting next to Sasuke! Then you punched me because I said something you didn't want to hear!"

"No! Don't be a liar Naruto!" Sakura yelled, trying to get Iruka to believe her, instead of Naruto. "And, Iruka-sensei, Hinata slapped me!" she yelled pointing at the female Hyuuga. "She slapped me for no reason!"

Many of the students stared at Sakura. They knew she would lie, and she was good at it. The other students knew not to get in Sakura's way when she got like this.

"Hinata. Naruto. Is this true?" Iruka asked.

"Not all of it!" Naruto yelled.

"Care to tell us your side of the story?" Iruka frowned.

"Gladly!" Naruto said glaring at Sakura. "It is true that I said something that I guess could be considered mean, but Sakura punched me!"

"I did not, Naruto! Stop lying!" Sakura screeched.

"Then how did Naruto end up on the floor Sakura?" Everyone turned stunned eyes to the voice. "You need to stop lying."

"S-Sasuke...kun...?" Sakura stuttered.

Iruka looked at Sasuke, then cleared his throat. "Sasuke, would you care to tell me what really happened?"

Sasuke sighed, then spoke. "Everything Sakura says is a lie. Sakura punched the dobe because he called her a loser, after calling him one. Then she," he said, motioning towards Hinata, "slapped Sakura because Sakura was being a bitch." The entire time the Uchiha was speaking, his tone never varied at all: he sounded rather bored the entire time.

Everyone stared at Sasuke dumbfounded, Hinata and Naruto more so. _'He...defended us?'_ Hinata thought.

"S-Sasuke-Kun..." Sakura started. "Wh...Why...?"

"Why what?" he asked, not even looking at her.

"Why...would you say that about me? I love you!" she pleaded.

"Sakura...please calm down and take your seat. You've done enough damage," Iruka stated. Sakura was about to retort, but Iruka shot her a look that quickly got her moving to her seat.

Naruto inwardly snickered at Sakura before returning to his seat next to Sasuke. Hinata smiled at Naruto. _'You're being so mature, Naruto-kun,'_ Hinata thought, smiling again, before taking her seat next to Naruto. "You don't mind if I sit here, too, do you Sasuke-san?"

"Hn. Do what you want," he said before turning his attention to Iruka.

Iruka saw Naruto and Hinata sit next to Sasuke and smiled. _'Well done, you two.'_

.

.

.

After class, Naruto sought out Mizuki to give him the Shadow Clone Jutsu. After walking around the Academy for a little while, he managed to find Mizuki at one of the training obstacle courses. "Mizuki-sensei!" Naruto called.

Mizuki, who was running the obstacle course, heard Naruto scream. His attention turned from the course to the blond, who was running at him holding a piece of paper. He couldn't help but let a devious smirk grace his lips. "It seems you found the scroll," he commented, trying to seem only minimally interested.

"Yeah! But I only got this one jutsu," the blond said, handing over the piece of paper. "It's the Shadow Clone Jutsu." Naruto smiled.

Mizuki smirked at Naruto again. "Well done. Have you gone back to the Hokage's office to collect more ninjutsu?"

"I went back last night, and I think the Hokage found it; it wasn't where you hid it," he explained.

Mizuki frowned. _'Dammit. Damn that old fool!'_ Mizuki sighed, then placed a hand on Naruto's head. "You did well Naruto. I'll make sure Iruka knows about this and gives you extra credit. Okay?"

Naruto smiled. "Awesome! Thanks Mizuki-sensei!" he yelled, running off and waving to Mizuki.

Mizuki gave a small wave to Naruto. When he was out of sight, Mizuki frowned. _'Damn it all. The brat only manages to bring me one jutsu...and, of course, it just had to be one that will take forever for me to learn!'_ Mizuki growled and crumpled up the piece of paper. _'And now...the Hokage went and re-hid the scroll. Looks like my plans are put on hold for the time being.'_

As Naruto exited the Academy, he saw Hinata waiting for him. "Hey, Hinata-chan! Were you waiting for me?" he asked.

Hinata nodded. "Junichi-san had errands he had to run, so he said that we can spend some time hanging out, if you want to." Hinata blushed slightly.

"Heck yes I wanna hang out! How about we get some ramen?" Naruto smiled. He hadn't eaten his favorite food with his best friend in a long time.

Hinata giggled and nodded. "Alright, Naruto-kun. Lead the way."

Naruto cheered as he led Hinata to Ichiraku's. "Next time, we'll get your favorite, 'kay?"

Hinata blushed. _'He's so considerate...' _Hinata beamed at Naruto. "Thank you Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled back, and the two continued their walk to Ichiraku's. Naruto and Hinata approached the small stand and sat down. "Hey, Old Man!" Naruto called.

Teuchi came out of the kitchen when he heard Naruto's voice. "Ah, Naruto! Good to see you again. Oh, and you brought Hinata-san again. It's good to see you as well," the aging chef said with a smile.

"Thank you." Hinata smiled. "It's nice to eat here again."

Teuchi smiled at the couple. "Alright, you two. What would you like to eat?"

"I'll have some beef ramen, please." Hinata smiled

Naruto smiled. "I'll have the same."

Teuchi smiled, nodded, and went into the back to make their ramen. Ayame came out when her father told her that Naruto and Hinata were there. "Naruto-kun! Hinata-san! It's good to see you two. Have you been training hard?"

Hinata nodded. "Yes. My cousin helps me train," she said, smiling.

Naruto nodded. "Yup! I've already learned a new jutsu and I'm trying to learn another one!"

Hinata blinked. "You've learned a new jutsu, Naruto-kun? What is it?"

Naruto realized what he said, but he played it off smoothly. "Well...you know how I'm terrible at creating normal clones?" Hinata and Ayame nodded. "Well, there's this clone jutsu that's made for people like me who can't create normal clones because I have too much chakra."

Ayame smiled. "That's wonderful, Naruto-kun."

"Yup! And after me and Hinata-chan catch up, I'm gonna work on the other jutsu!" He smiled. He saw Teuchi coming out with their bowls of ramen, and he got excited. "Alright! Ramen time!"

Hinata giggled at Naruto's enthusiasm. Hinata and Naruto thanked the owners and began to eat. "So, Hinata-chan," Naruto started after swallowing some of his ramen noodles. "Have you learned any new jutsu?" He then put more noodles in his mouth.

Hinata nodded. "Yes, I have. Neji-niisan taught me a family jutsu that I couldn't even do before the break," Hinata said, slightly embarrassed.

"Reawy? Wha doeth it do?" Naruto said with his mouth full of ramen.

Hinata blinked and giggled. "I strike the opponent's chakra points, closing them off. I have to use my Byakugan to make sure I hit the chakra points correctly," Hinata explained.

"Awesome!" Naruto shouted. "Wow, I wish I could use some of those awesome jutsu you can use!" Naruto said, lifting his broth-filled bowl and slurping the broth.

Hinata blinked at Naruto, then looked at her bowl. It still had noodles in it, but she picked up her bowl and began to sip some of the the broth out of the bowl. She put her bowl down after a few sips and turned to Naruto. "W-What?"

Naruto was staring at her, trying not to laugh. "Y-Y-You ha-have a n-noodle on your lip..." Naruto couldn't keep it in any longer and burst out laughing.

Hinata picked the noodle off her upper lip and laughed with Naruto. The two laughed for several more moments, before smiling at each other and finishing their meal. The two chit-chatted for a little while longer before Hinata heard her name being called. Hinata turned and saw Junichi approaching them. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but I must go."

"Oh...okay. Bye, Hinata-chan," he said with a wave.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto-kun." She smiled and walked to Junichi.

Naruto waved goodbye, then turned to his ramen with a sigh. "You okay, Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked.

"Yeah. I just wanted to hang out with Hinata-chan a little more. I mean...she's my friend...my only friend," he said, his voice almost a whisper by the end.

Ayame sighed and looked at Naruto sadly. She felt bad for the young boy. He was such an energetic ball of sunshine with a heart of gold, but very few saw that. She only hoped that once he became a ninja the villagers would see him for who he was, and not as the demon he carried. "Don't worry Naruto-kun. Everything will be okay."

"I know. Thanks, Ayame-neechan." He slurped down the rest of his ramen and placed the bowl down with a content sigh. "Alright. I'm gonna go Ayame-neechan. I'm gonna work on my new jutsu!" He paid for his and Hinata's ramen and ran to the training grounds.

When Naruto reached the training grounds, he pulled out the slip of paper that held the new jutsu he was going to learn. "Okay...Burning Ash." He read over the jutsu's description again, and then moved to the instructions on how to preform it. "Great...hand seals..." Naruto groaned. Naruto sucked at hand seals. "Okay...so Snake...Rat...Snake...Tiger." Naruto read on. "Okay...so...hand seals then...I blow a lot of chakra infused gunpowder out of my mouth." Naruto read on, the instructions saying that a flint should be placed in between his teeth to light up the gunpowder and make an explosion. Naruto decided against that, making sure he could actually produce the gunpowder first and not kill himself if something went wrong.

Naruto took a deep breath and slowly let it out to calm his nerves. "Okay. I can do this..." He took one more deep breath before he began his hand seals. _'Snake. Rat. Snake. Tiger.'_ "**Fire Style: Burning Ash!**" Naruto took in a deep breath and breathed out a very small puff of gunpowder. It was no bigger than a baseball.

Naruto frowned. "Dammit..." Naruto took another deep breath, then tried again. _'Snake. Rat. Snake. Tiger.' _"**Fire Style: Burning Ash!**" Naruto took another deep breath and blew out the gunpowder. Once again, no bigger than a baseball. Naruto growled and stomped his foot. Naruto continued to practice the jutsu. He performed it over and over again until night had fallen.

Naruto was face first on the ground, trying to catch his breath. "Wh...why...is...is it so...ha...ha...hard to...do this...jutsu...?" Naruto rolled onto his back and stared at the dark, starry sky. He groaned as he slowly sat up, still trying to catch his breath. Naruto stood up on shaky legs and began to preform hand signs. _'Snake...Rat...Snake...Tiger.'_ "**F-Fire Style: Burning Ash!"** Naruto took as deep a breath as he could and blew out the gunpowder. The dark cloud that came out of Naruto's mouth was bigger than all his other attempts. It was about the size of a beach ball. Naruto fell face first into the ground again, panting. "I...I...got it...b-bigger..." Naruto had a small smile on his face as he began to slip into unconsciousness.

A tall, slender figure wearing an ANBU mask approached the young boy, and placed a hand on his blond hair. _'I have to tell Hokage-sama about him learning this new jutsu.'_ The figure picked up Naruto and placed him on his back. _'You better hope this doesn't hinder your chances of being a shinobi, Naruto-kun.' _The ANBU then began the short journey to Naruto's apartment. Once inside Naruto's apartment, he quickly made his way to the boy's bed and laid him down. He then removed his mask and revealed his...or, rather, her face. Yugao Uzuki was standing next to Naruto's bed. Yugao covered Naruto up and left his apartment. She then quickly rushed to the Hokage's office to give him her report before he went home.

Yugao entered the Hokage's office just as he was getting up to leave. "Hokage-sama, I have news to report," Yugao said, bowing to the village leader.

"Ah, Yugao. I didn't think you'd make it. Was I right?" Hiruzen prayed that he wasn't.

"I'm afraid you are right, Hokage-sama. He was the one who found it. He's taken two of the scroll's secret ninjutsu," she said with a bowed head. Yugao didn't hate Naruto. In fact, she actually quite enjoyed his pranks. Mostly because she had never been pranked by Naruto, and it kept her team on their toes from time to time. She was also one of the few people who saw Naruto for who he was, not the Kyubi.

"Only two?" This confused the Hokage. _'Why would Naruto only take two?' _Hiruzen sighed. "Do you know which ones he took?"

Yugao nodded. "Yes. He took and learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu. He also wrote down Fire Style: Burning Ash."

Hiruzen sighed. "Thank you, Yugao. You are dismissed." Yugao nodded and shushined away. Hiruzen sighed and approached the window that looked out to Konoha. "What are you trying to do, Naruto?"

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.

.

It was about halfway through the year, and Naruto had come along quite a lot. His skills had improved quite a lot, thanks in large part to Hinata's help. Naruto had returned to the Hokage's office multiple times to find "Mizuki's hidden scroll" but had no luck, since the Hokage had hidden it again. So Mizuki told Naruto that the one jutsu he turned in would give him extra credit.

Naruto had also been practicing his new jutsu over the past few weeks, trying to get his gunpowder cloud as big as he could. Naruto had managed to make the cloud about the size of his bedroom in his apartment. He still hadn't put flame to the gunpowder, still fearing it would go horribly wrong. Naruto hadn't shown his new Jutsu to Hinata yet, but he was planning on showing her, and the rest of the class, on graduation day.

Currently, Naruto was sitting next to Hinata and Sasuke. The duo had become accustomed to sitting next to the lonely Uchiha, who secretly enjoyed their company. Of course, this angered all of Sasuke's fangirls, especially Sakura.

_'How dare they get to sit next to _my _Sasuke-kun. I should be the one next to him, not those losers!'_

"All right, everyone," Iruka started. "I want to talk to you today about your goals." Iruka smiled. "What you want in life, and why you want to be a ninja. Who would like to start?" Iruka saw Naruto's hand shoot up in the air, waving to-and-fro. "Naruto?"

"I want to be Hokage one day! I want to be known as the greatest Hokage to ever live! I want to be better than the Yondaime!" he shouted.

"Why do you want to be Hokage, Naruto?" Iruka asked.

"Well...I want to be known as Uzumaki Naruto and not shunned by everyone..." Naruto started sadly. Some of the students, including Hinata, looked at him with a sad gaze. "But I mostly want to protect the people I care for, and the people who care for me! I even want to protect those who hate me because they live in Konoha! I have to defend Konoha with my life! That's what Hokages do!"

Iruka smiled. "Well done, Naruto." He noticed Hinata raise her hand. "Would you like to go next, Hinata?"

Hinata nodded. "I want to be a strong and fair leader of my clan. I want to change things between the Main Family and Branch Family," she started. Taking a deep breath, she continued, gaining a deep blush as she said, "I want to be a strong kunoichi...and maybe a wife someday."

Iruka chuckled. "Alright. Anyone else?" Iruka went around the class asking all the other students. Surprising no one, Sakura exclaimed she was going to be Sasuke's wife. "Okay, Sasuke. You're the last one. What are your goals?"

Sasuke sighed. "My goals are to revive my clan and to kill a certain man," he bluntly stated.

Many of the girls swooned, stating how cool he was. Naruto blinked. "Are you talking about your brother?"

Sasuke turned to Naruto. "Hn. Of course I am, Dobe," he said, turning his attention back to Iruka.

"Why? It wasn't even Itachi's fault. Konoha's council forced him to kill your clan." Naruto, having realized what he said, slapped his hands over his mouth.

Sasuke snapped his head towards Naruto, his eyes locking with the blond's. "What did you say?"

Naruto swallowed hard. He looked around the classroom and saw everyone's eyes on him. He then quickly bolted out the door of the classroom, running away from Sasuke and everyone else.

"DOBE! GET BACK HERE AND EXPLAIN!" Sasuke yelled as he chased Naruto.

Hinata stood up and went to run after them, but Iruka stopped her. "Let them go, Hinata. Naruto can handle this," he told her, though he was worried about Naruto, too. If what he said was true, that the Council did order Itachi to kill off the Uchiha Clan, then Sasuke was in for a whirlwind of emotions. _'I hope Naruto knows what he's doing and tells Sasuke the truth.'_

Naruto reached the outside of the Academy when Sasuke managed to tackle him to the ground. "Now...tell me about the Council," Sasuke said, venom in his voice.

Naruto shoved Sasuke off him, trying to catch his breath. He knew if he took off running again, Sasuke would probably try and kill him. "All right. Just...don't talk until I'm done, okay? There's a lot to explain."

Sasuke frowned but gave a short nod.

"All right. Well...I found out by accident," Naruto started. Naruto began his story on how he found the Hokage's journal and what he had read. He started with the First Hokage's entry about the founding of Konoha. He said that one member of the Uchiha Clan, Madara, was a little sketchy.

Sasuke was listening with high interest. He couldn't believe, though, that one of his own clan members was suspicious at the beginning of it all.

Naruto continued with the actual Uchiha Massacre, and how Sasuke's brother suspected Tobi to be the supposedly dead Uchiha Madara. He also explained how Itachi was a double agent through all of the massacre and is still a double agent and still very much loyal to Konoha.

Sasuke sat there in complete shock. Everything he knew...all of it...was a lie. A lie! All because of the damn Council! Sasuke started to get angry. The Council had pushed Sasuke to become a Genin and graduate early, but he never did because his teachers didn't think he was quite ready yet. Sasuke grew even more angry as he realized the Council tried to fuel his hatred towards Itachi with their constant reminders of the massacre and how Itachi wanted him to despise him. Sasuke's body began to tremble with rage. He had so many emotions running through him: anger, sadness, betrayal.

Naruto stared at Sasuke in shock. Sasuke's reaction didn't surprise him, really; he'd realized even when he was reading the journal that Sasuke would be more than a little upset, if he ever found out about this. It was what happened because of the Uchiha's reaction that shocked him. Sasuke's eyes...they were red with a single tomoe in them. "Sasuke...your eyes..."

Sasuke turned to Naruto and frowned. He wasn't angry at Naruto. In fact, he was grateful, though it didn't show. He was glad he knew the truth, but he was still very angry. Sasuke left Naruto and took off running towards the Hokage tower.

"Sasuke, wait!" Naruto yelled before taking off after Sasuke.

Hiruzen was in a meeting with the entire shinobi and civilian council. They were currently discussing this year's up-and-coming ninja. Of course the village council was praising Sasuke, saying that he was going to be the Rookie of the Year.

As if on cue, Sasuke charged through the doors, with two Chuunin behind him. "Who gave the order?"

The Council turned to see Sasuke looking rather menacing, and, shockingly, his Sharingan was activated.

"Come on, kid! You can't be in here!" one Chuunin said as he tried to pull Sasuke back. Naruto was right behind the Chuunin, but he knew Sasuke deserved a real explanation that wasn't from him.

"WHO GAVE THE ORDER?" Sasuke yelled.

The Hokage stood up and waved his hand at the Chuunin, signaling them to back off. "Now Sasuke...what do you mean 'Who gave the order?'"

"Who gave the order to tell my brother to kill our clan?" he shouted. Sasuke noticed that the Hokage was suddenly paralyzed with shock. He also noticed the council members were the same way, some more so than others.

Hiruzen sighed. "I did."

"You're a liar! I know it wasn't you! It was one of them!" Sasuke yelled, pointing to the council.

That shocked Hiruzen more. _'How does he know?'_ Hiruzen cleared his throat, then spoke. "Sasuke, before we get into this, how did you come to find out about this?"

"That doesn't matter right now! I want to know who told Itachi to kill everyone in the Uchiha Clan!" he ordered. He looked around and saw that two members of the council were more calm and less shocked than the others. "It was you two, wasn't it?"

Hiruzen turned and stared at his former teammates: Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.

The female Elder sighed. "Forgive us Uchiha-san, but it was necessary. Your clan–"

"I DON'T CARE! You could have done something other than killing them off! That was my family!" he screamed. Tears were streaming down his cheeks as he screamed. "You killed so many men, women, and children! Some of my clan members probably weren't even thinking about betraying Konoha! You could have spared so many lives! But instead you chose to be selfish and cruel!"

"Uchiha-san. Please calm down," Homura stated. "Yelling isn't going to solve anything. What's done is done."

Sasuke stared at the two Elders, horrified at what they said. "What's done is done? WHAT'S DONE IS DONE? Screw you, you senile old bats!" he screamed. "You have no right to be on this council! I should kill **you** for killing my friends and family!"

The rest of the council seemed to disappear around Sasuke. It was only him and the two Elders. "The deepest circle of Hell is reserved for people like you! You say my clan was out for power? You're wrong. It's _**you**_ who's out for power!" he shouted while pointing to the two elders. "You're so afraid of one clan gaining control over this large and vast village, that you kill them off so _**you**_ can keep the power that you have!"

Hiruzen sighed and decided to speak up. "Sasuke...I am deeply sorry about what happened."

Sasuke turned to the Hokage, his glare not so intense. "I know you are. You weren't the one who ordered this, but you are to blame, too! Your word is law in this village! You could have nulled that order, and you didn't! The only reason you still have my respect is because you still see my brother as an ally to this village."

_'I want to know how he obtained this information.' _Hiruzen sighed once more then turned to the Council. "We'll continue this meeting another time. Sasuke...come with me."

"Can I come too, Old Man?" Naruto spoke up.

Hiruzen was about to object, but Sasuke nodded. "You, too, Dobe."

The Council, along with the two Chuunin, watched as the trio left the Hokage's tower. The rest of the Council turned to the Elders and looked at them with slight disgust. Everyone in the room thought Itachi had betrayed Konoha. Now they saw that the Elders had betrayed Itachi so they could keep the power they had.

Shikaku, head of the Nara clan, was the first to speak. "God, how troublesome. I never thought I'd see the day the Elders would turn against Konoha," he said before walking out of the meeting room.

"Agreed," Shibi, Shino's father and the head of the Aburame Clan, voiced. He followed Shikaku out of the room.

More and more members continued to agree with Shikaku as they left, including Akimichi Chouza, Yamanaka Inoichi, and even Hyuuga Hiashi. The civilian council looked at each other before leaving as well, though they left without saying anything to the Elders.

Homura and Koharu looked at each other and sighed. Perhaps it was time for them to retire.

Hiruzen, Sasuke, and Naruto walked in silence. There was so much tension coming from Sasuke, it made Naruto and Hiruzen a little nervous to speak. Sasuke finally stopped in front of a small wooden dock. "I come here when I want to be alone or need to think," he said solemnly.

Hiruzen cleared his throat and spoke. "Sasuke...how did you find out about the Uchiha Massacre?"

"Uh...that would be from me," Naruto said quietly. "I was in your office a couple of months ago, and I accidentally came across the Hokages' Journal..." he said, hanging his head.

Hiruzen's eyes widened. _'Yugao never mentioned that. Perhaps she didn't stay long enough.'_ Hiruzen sighed. "Naruto...we will talk later about why you were in my office, but why were you reading the journal?"

"I was curious. I'm sorry..."

"Is that as far as you read?" Hiruzen prayed that he didn't read the Yondaime's entries.

"Yes. I swear that's as far as I read. I was going to stop, but I noticed Uchiha Madara's name in the entry you wrote, which I thought was odd since I read it in the Shodai's entry," Naruto stated. "So...I decided to investigate. I'm really sorry, Old Man. Please don't be angry."

Hiruzen sighed and began to massage the bridge of his nose. "I'm not angry Naruto. A little frustrated, but not angry." He then turned to Sasuke. "What are you going to do now, Sasuke?"

"I don't know...I need to think," he said sitting down at the edge of the dock.

Hiruzen nodded. "Alright Sasuke. Naruto, come with me. We're going to discuss why you were in my office." Hiruzen scowled. Naruto flinched but nodded. Hiruzen gave a short nod and began to walk back to his office.

Naruto turned to Sasuke. "Hey...Sasuke?"

"Hn?" he grunted.

"I hope you still want to be a ninja. It won't be any fun trying to kick your ass if you aren't there," Naruto stated. He gave Sasuke his signature big cheeky grin before following the Hokage.

Sasuke sighed, but he couldn't keep a small smirk from gracing his lips.

Naruto was standing in front of the Hokage's desk, silence filling the room. Finally, after what seem like an eternity of silence, Hiruzen spoke. "Naruto I'm very disappointed in you."

"...I know. I'm sorry."

"Naruto, why were you in my office?" Hiruzen asked, as he lit the tobacco in his pipe.

"Well...Mizuki-sensei said he hid a scroll in here with a bunch of jutsu on it in your office. He said that if I find it and write some jutsu down, he would give me extra credit to help me pass," Naruto explained.

Hiruzen stared at Naruto dumbfounded. _'Mizuki? I can't believe he would do that to Naruto. He knew Naruto was desperate to graduate.'_ Hiruzen then picked up the small seal. "Naruto, do you know what this is?"

"Yeah! That's the seal that hides the scroll Mizuki-sensei hid! Where'd you put it?" he exclaimed.

"Naruto, Mizuki didn't hide this scroll."

"But, Mizuki-Sensei said–"

"Mizuki lied, Naruto. He didn't hide this scroll. I did. This scroll is the Forbidden Scroll. It holds all of Konoha's most powerful jutsu. I can only assume that Mizuki wanted you to find this scroll to give him the jutsu inside, correct?"

"Y-Yeah..." Naruto seemed slightly depressed. Mizuki had lied to him, just so Mizuki could benefit from Naruto's crime. "I'm so sorry..." he said as tears threatened to fall.

Hiruzen nodded. "I know you are Naruto. What ninjutsus did you take?"

"I...I've learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu and I'm learning Burning Ash," he said, wiping his tears away.

Hiruzen nodded again. "All right, Naruto. You may go. But don't let Mizuki know about this conversation, okay? I'm going to have some of my Jonin pick him up and talk to Ibiki."

Naruto nodded and smiled. "Bye, Old Man. And thanks a lot." Naruto quickly ran out of the Hokage's office, happy he wasn't in too much trouble.

Hiruzen frowned and gently stroked his pointed gray beard. _'Mizuki wouldn't go to all that trouble to trick Naruto just for his own personal gain. He must be working for someone. I only hope it isn't..._him...'

**End Chapter**

**Okay! Did you enjoy it? Yes. Yes you did. **

**Now I need to say this. I've had 3 people point this out to me and it made me go "GRRRR!" NO! THERE WILL NOT BE A THREESOME! Strictly NaruHina with other couples! Okay? Thank you**

**Please Review! !**

**~Lu Lu-Chan25**


	5. A Neat Little Team

A week had passed since the revelation of the big secret of the Uchiha Massacre and life had returned to...mostly normal. After speaking to Sasuke in length about the tradegy, Hiruzen then went into detail about Itachi's role in the Akatsuki. He explained how Itachi asked them to spare Sasuke's life and to look after him, and how Itachi became a double-agent.

"I can't believe all of this. It's just...so overwhelming." Sasuke said with a sigh. Sasuke was sitting on the couch in the Hokage's office, his head in his hands. He had just had been told, in great detail about why his brother was chosen to be martyr.

Hiruzen nodded. "Indeed, I know it's a lot to take in. Now Sasuke...I do have a question for you." When Sasuke gave him his undivided attention, Hiruzen continued. "Would you like me to ask Itachi to come back?"

Sasuke's eyes widened. "You would let him come back? What about the village? They'll hate him..."

"I know Sasuke. And it's partially my fault that he'll be hated. But he's not a traitor, and you know that. It's a chance for you and your brother to have a relationship again." Hiruzen said softly. He knew Sasuke wanted his family back, and now he had a chance.

Sasuke sat silently for a moment before giving his reply. "I do want Itachi to come back..."

"But?" Hiruzen asked.

"But I need to think about it. I do want him to come back and I do want to have my brother in my life, especially now that I know the truth. But...it's hard for me to just...forgive and forget about what happened."

Hiruzen placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and gave him a soft smile. "I know it's hard Sasuke. No one expects you to forget what happened that night. However...forgiveness is key to mending a broken relationship. That night has plagued your brother everyday. Knowing you forgive him, it would mean the world to him." Hiruzen nodded.

Sasuke stared at the old man for a moment and nodded. "Alright." He sighed. "Go ahead and tell Itachi he can come home. But...I'll still need time. It still hurts."

Hiruzen gently squeezed Sasuke's shoulder. "I know Sasuke. That pain will never go away...it will only dull. But you can over come this, it will make you a stronger shinobi in the end." He nodded.

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Since the day Hiruzen spoke with Naruto and Sasuke, many things had happened. Hiruzen had summoned Mizuki to his office then sent him to Ibiki for interrogation. Hiruzen's fears were realized when Ibiki came back to him saying that Mizuki had finally broken and admitted he was working for Orochimaru. Hiruzen worried about how much information was given to Orochimaru.

Sasuke had changed since the day of the accidental revelation. Sasuke wanted to revive the Uchiha Clan, but his ambition to kill his brother had completely melted away. He decided to forgive Itachi for his sins, but also wanted to hear what happened from Itachi first-hand. He also wanted to revive Konoha's Military Police. It was his dream as a child to be in it, and now he was determined to restore and lead it.

The Hokage held a meeting with the Shinobi and the village council to see what should be done about the Elders. He was taken by surprise when there was a unanimous vote to expel the them from the council altogether. Hiruzen told his former teammates what he and his advisors decided, and the two retired Shinobi resigned themselves to obey their leader's orders.

The Hokage had decided Naruto's mistake couldn't go unpunished. Even if it was a pure, stupid mistake, he had to be punished. It wasn't a terrible punishment, the Hokage ordered Naruto to clean the Academy classrooms after class every day until graduation. Naruto tried to protest, but the sandaime explained if Naruto skipped out, he would have a make-up cleaning day. If he missed another, another day would have to be made up. Naruto didn't like to clean, but he didn't want to clean more days than necessary, either. Some days Hinata would stay behind and help him, just so she could talk and hang out with him.

It was the day before the graduation exam, and Naruto was cleaning the last classroom of the day. He was sweeping the floor while Hinata cleaned off the chalkboard. "I'm so excited, Hinata-chan! Tomorrow is our graduation day!" he exclaimed. "I've been training so hard!" As he talked, he swept the dust pile into the dustpan.

"You have Naruto-kun. I really hope you'll be able to graduate. You deserve to after all your hard work," she smiled.

"So do you, Hinata-chan. You've been working really hard, too," he said, giving her a big, toothy grin. "Hey, after we're done, do you wanna see my new ninjutsu? I've been working on it for so long, and I think I finally have it down."

"Of course," Hinata replied.

The two finished cleaning the classroom, and the duo departed to their training grounds. Naruto was now preparing for his attack. "Okay...so, you might wanna find somewhere safe...like the top of a tree or something," Naruto warned. "This move can be very...explosive." He smirked. Hinata nodded and jumped up to a very high tree branch, looking down on the training grounds. "Okay!" Naruto took his stance, and closed his eyes. He felt a slight breeze, and could tell the wind was coming from the North, moving away from the village. He placed something in between his fingers before performing the appropriate hand seals. "**Fire Style: Burning Ash!"** Naruto took a deep breath and blew out a gun powder cloud that surrounded the three training posts. He then threw what he had in between his fingers at the cloud and jumped away in time just as the cloud exploded.

Despite Naruto jumping out of the way of the initial explosion, he was still tossed back from the large shock wave of the explosion. Hinata was barely able to keep herself from being blown off the tree where she was perched. When the smoke finally cleared, the three training logs were burnt to a crisp and the ground around the training logs were intensely scorched.

Hinata stared at the large scorch crater in awe. _'Oh my God. That's a strong attack!'_ Hinata looked around and the ground and saw Naruto picking himself up off the ground. She leapt down off the tree and rushed over to Naruto. "Naruto-kun! Are you all right?!"

Naruto stood up and looked at Hinata with a smile. "Yup! I'm fine!" He then turned to see what the finished product was from his jutsu. "ALL RIGHT! HECK YES! Look what I did!"

Hinata smiled at the blond's happiness. "It looked very powerful, Naruto-kun."

"It is! No one can beat me now!" Naruto yelled. "How about we get some cinnamon buns?" Naruto offered with a smile.

Hinata blushed and nodded, walking with Naruto to get her favorite treat.

.

.

.

Naruto was sitting in his seat in the Academy, his body shaking with anticipation. It was graduation day! Naruto was sitting next to Hinata, who was calmer than Naruto but still nervous. Iruka was staring at his students with a smirk. "Well, students, today is the day. Today we test you and see if you're worthy to be called Genin!"

Loud cheers erupted through the classroom. Iruka chuckled as he motioned his hands for the children to quiet down. "All right, settle down. Now, for everyone's safety, we're going to take the test outside." As he spoke, he motioned for the children to follow him to the practice grounds.

Upon arriving outside, Iruka addressed the prospective Genin again. "All right, students, this is what's going to happen. You're going to do three things: perform a henge, create a clone, and then finally perform your strongest ninjutsu," Iruka explained. "If you need a live target for your ninjutsu, please say so so we may have an experienced Chuunin available for you," he added as he pointed towards a small group of Chuunin approaching the students. Iruka knew that live targets would be needed to show the power and effects of some ninjutsu. "If you choose to use him, please do not incapacitate him from duty," Iruka admonished. He saw the students nod their heads, and he smiled. "Alright. Let us begin! Nara Shikamaru...you will begin the exams."

Shikamaru groaned. "How troublesome..." he grumbled with the ever-present apathy in his voice. He gave an annoyed sigh before performing a simple hand sign and transforming into his father. Shikamaru noticed Iruka scribbling something on his clipboard and returned to normal. Shikamaru proceeded to make a clone, then dispelled it when Iruka gave the order.

"All right, Shikamaru, will you need a live target?" Shikamaru nodded, and Iruka motioned for one of the Chuunin to step forward. "Go ahead, Shikamaru."

The lazy student gave another annoyed sigh before performing his hand sign. "**Shadow Possession Jutsu." **Shikamaru's shadow stretched before him and latched onto his opponent's shadow. Shikamaru then raised his hand and then put it down, showing that he was able to control his opponent. "Am I done now?" he asked in a bored tone.

"Yes Shikamaru, you're done." Iruka sighed. _'Whoever has that boy on their team, will be in for a rough ride.'_ Iruka then looked at his clipboard and smiled. "All right!" After calling several no-name students, Iruka called up Sakura. "Haruno Sakura. Step forward!" Iruka yelled.

"Watch me Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screeched.

Sasuke gave a silent groan. _'Why? What did I do to deserve this?'_

Sakura stepped forward and stated she needed a live target. She performed her clone and henge with ease. She then performed a simple hand sign before rushing to her opponent. Sakura then thrust her palm forward, hitting the Chuunin in the shoulder. The Chuunin's eyes widened as he slumped to the ground. Sakura turned around and smirked at Sasuke as she placed her hand on her hip. "Temporary Paralysis Jutsu."

Iruka nodded. "Well done Sakura. Can you please reverse the paralysis?"

Sakura then looked a little confused. "There's a way to reverse it?" she asked a little nervously.

"You don't know how?" Iruka said, a little irked.

Sakura chuckled nervously. "Well...wouldn't it like...not matter in combat? Since you're trying to paralyze them and attack or kill them when they're down," Sakura pointed out.

Iruka had to admit, she made a _very_ valid point. "Agreed, Sakura."

Sakura smirked and walked over to Sasuke. "Wasn't my technique impressive, Sasuke-kun?" she asked, watching the raven-haired boy with adoration.

Sasuke scoffed. "You saved yourself with a valid point."

Sakura blinked. She wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult. She pushed it to the back of her mind, instantly fawning over him again.

Sasuke looked like he was seriously about to punch her in the face. Sasuke praised God when he heard Iruka call his name. He stepped forward and performed his jutsu with ease, ending his test with the **Grand Fireball Jutsu**. Many of the girls swooned at Sasuke's "super-amazingly-awesome" jutsu. Sasuke ignored all of the girls and walked over to a secluded area, away from the group.

Iruka smiled. He continued to call the students up for their tests. Chouji used his expansion jutsu, Shino used his bugs, Kiba used a kind of copying technique to make Akamaru look just like him, and Ino used her Mind Transfer Jutsu, although it didn't work the way she had planned. Ino decided to use her jutsu on the still-paralyzed Chuunin, stating it wouldn't make a difference. However, she was proven wrong.

Ino's body slumped to the ground as she gained control of the mind and body of the paralyzed Chuunin. "See Iruka-sensei? I have complete con- I CAN'T MOVE!" Ino screeched. "WHY CAN'T I MOVE?!" Most of the class had erupted into laughter at Ino's predicament. "DAMN YOU, FOREHEAD!"

Sakura stuck her tongue out at "Ino." "HAHA Ino-Pig!"

Ino growled and canceled her jutsu, returning to her rightful body. Ino stood up and stomped her feet. "That so wasn't fair!"

Iruka sighed. "Ino, calm down. You were able to perform your jutsu and I was able to gather what you were able to do, despite not being able to move." Ino was about to retort until Iruka shot her a look, and she quickly closed her mouth. "All right. Naruto. It's your turn." Iruka stated with a smile.

Naruto was beaming. "Finally!" He rushed forward and took his position. He performed a simple hand signed and transformed into the particularly crazy, purple-haired lady that kept glomping Iruka over the break.

Iruka's eyes widened. It wasn't Naruto's Sexy Jutsu, but it might as well have been. Iruka was staring at the transformed Naruto with wide eyes. It was a perfect replica of Mitarashi Anko. Iruka's eyes slowly traveled down the "woman's" body before he shook his head and taking a deep breath. "Naruto...please cancel the jutsu..."

"What's the matter, Iruka-sensei? Don't you like what you see?" "Anko" said with a sexy, pouting look.

Iruka turned away, covering his mouth and nose. "Anko" laughed, along with Hinata, who knew about the story thanks to Naruto. Everyone else in the class looked very confused. Iruka took a few deep breaths before turning back to "Anko." "Naruto, cancel it...now!"

There was a puff of smoke, and Naruto stood before the class. "OH MAN IRUKA-SENSEI! YOUR FACE!" Naruto was nearly on his knees from laughing so hard.

Iruka couldn't do anything but glare at his blond student. Finally, Naruto regained his composure and created another hand sign. "**Shadow Clone Jutsu!"** In an instant, five Narutos filled the room. Naruto, or, rather, the Narutos, stared at Iruka with a confident smirk. "Is this good, Iruka-sensei?" the Narutos said simultaneously.

The classroom, excluding Hinata, stared at the blonds in complete shock. There were five Narutos! "And check this out! They're all real!" One of the clones went over to Shikamaru, who was asleep, and sat on his stomach.

"Oof!" Shikamaru cracked his eyes open and saw the Naruto clone sitting on him. "Wha...Get off me, Uzumaki..." Shikamaru said before closing his eyes.

The Naruto clone smirked and vanished in a puff of smoke. Shikamaru began coughing, and waving his hand to blow the smoke away.

Many stared in awe as the other clones dispelled. Iruka cleared his throat and spoke. "Okay, Naruto. Which jutsu are you going to perform?"

Naruto chuckled. He thought about doing Burning Ash, but he realized _that_ might be a bit too destructive for the Genin Test. "Uh...that was my best jutsu," he said with a nervous chuckle.

Iruka nodded. The Shadow Clone Jutsu was a very impressive jutsu. "Hinata, it's finally your turn."

Hinata smiled. "But Iruka-sensei, I need a live target for my jutsu," she said, looking at the paralyzed Chuunin on the ground. "And ours is...indisposed at the moment," she added with a nervous chuckle.

"I'll do it, Hinata-chan!" Naruto smiled.

"N-No! Naruto-kun, I could seriously hurt you," she pleaded.

"It's okay Hinata-chan! Besides, you told me about this jutsu, and I wanna experience it for myself. And that's final," he said giving her a thumbs-up.

Hinata wanted to protest more, but she caved when she saw Naruto smile at her. "Oh, all right, Naruto-kun." Hinata performed a clone and henge with ease. She then turned to Naruto, who walked up to her with a genuine smile. "This will probably hurt," she warned.

"It's okay, Hinata-chan!" Naruto gave her another thumbs up.

Hinata took a deep breath and activated her Byakugan, which caused several gasps from the students. "**Eight Trigrams: Thirty-Two Palms!"** Hinata started with a double palm strike, then began a multitude of strikes. "Two palms! Four palms! Eight palms! Sixteen palms! Thirty-two palms!" Hinata then jumped away from Naruto.

Naruto had been pushed back by the strikes, and, when Hinata had jumped back, he fell to the ground with a groan. Hinata gasped and ran over to him. "Naruto-kun! Are you okay?! I'm so sorry!" Hinata cried.

Naruto chuckled lightly. "Heh. I'm okay, I promise..." He groaned again. Hinata rolled him over and re-opened his chakra points, hoping it would stop Naruto's pain. Naruto groaned again, then smiled up at Hinata. "W-Wow, Hinata-chan! That was some powerful jutsu!" he declared.

Hinata felt herself get a little emotional and hugged Naruto. Naruto's eyes widened and looked at Hinata's head. "H-Hinata-chan! A-Are you okay?! I'm sorry if I scared you! I swear I didn't mean it!"

Hinata pulled away and smiled at Naruto, wiping the few tears in her eyes. "I-I'm okay Naruto-kun. I j-just thought I s-seriously hurt you."

Naruto smiled as he stood up. "I'm fine. See?" he said, stretching, then winced. "Uh...it's okay! I'm just a little stiff," he joked. Hinata didn't look convinced, but Naruto smiled. "I'm okay Hinata. Really." He wasn't completely okay, but he wanted to reassure her.

Hinata smiled and stood up, helping a sore Naruto up as well. The two preteens turned to their sensei, who smiled. "Well done, Hinata." Iruka then turned to the other students. "All right, everyone, let's head back into the classroom." The older man smiled. The students complied and returned to their assigned classroom. Once inside, Iruka was jotting down several notes on the clipboard. "Now, when I call your name, please come forward and receive your hitai-ate," Iruka said with a smile. "At the top of the class and Rookie of the Year...Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke stood up and approached Iruka, mentally groaning when he heard his fangirls screaming his name. "Thanks, Sensei," Sasuke said before going back to his seat.

"Second in the class, Hyuuga Hinata." Iruka smiled.

When Hinata received her hitai-ate, Naruto stood up and began to cheer. "WOOOOOH! YEAH HINATA-CHAN!" Hinata blushed and receive her hitai-ate and took her seat next to Naruto. "Way to go Hinata-chan! I bet your family will be so happy!"

Hinata gave Naruto a smiled. "Thank you Naruto-kun."

Iruka called several more names, including Sakura's, Chouji's, Ino's, and Kiba's. "Next on the list...Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka said with a beaming smile.

Naruto sat in his seat in shock. He had..."YES!" Naruto yelled, jumping from his seat. "WOOHOO!" Naruto sprinted down to Iruka and was bouncing in front of his sensei.

Iruka and Hinata laughed at Naruto's antics. "Here you are, Naruto. You deserve it."

Naruto smiled at Iruka and took the hitai-ate and tied it around his forehead. "ALL RIGHT!" Naruto jumped and punched the air. He then ran back to Hinata's side, and hugged her. "Thanks Hinata-chan! You helped me get this!"

Hinata smiled and hugged him back. "You're welcome."

The two separated, Hinata a little sad the hug had ended, and listened to the rest of the names being called. Shino and Shikamaru were called next, then several no-name students. Iruka smiled as he finally finished the list. "All right, students...or should I say, Genin, tomorrow you will find out what team you're on and who your sensei will be." After seeing the new Genin nod, Iruka smiled. "Congratulations everyone, you're now officially Genin of Konoha!"

The kids all cheered as they quickly filed out of the classroom to share their excitement with their families. As all the children rushed to their parents' open arms, Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata stood watching the happy families. Naruto turned to Hinata and smiled. "It's okay, Hinata. Maybe your dad is planning a huge party when you return!"

Hinata smiled. "Thanks, Naruto-kun." Hinata knew there was a snowball's chance in Hell that Hyuuga Hiashi would actually throw a congratulatory party in her name. But she did appreciate Naruto telling her that.

"Wanna go get some ramen?" he asked with a hopeful smile.

Hinata sighed and smiled. "Of course, Naruto-kun."

Before Naruto and Hinata left, they noticed Sasuke walking away from the Academy. "Hey, Sasuke!" Sasuke turned to look at the two. "Wanna come get some ramen with us?"

Sasuke stared at the two. "You're inviting me? Why?"

Naruto smiled brightly. "You look like you could use a friend."

Sasuke was shocked. He turned to Hinata, who smiled and nodded to him. _'They're...extending their hands?'_ Sasuke approached the duo and followed the now extremely excited blond to the ramen stand. "Is he always like this?" Sasuke asked Hinata.

Hinata giggled and nodded. "Naruto-kun very much enjoys ramen. It is his favorite food. I also think today is a special occasion. He passed the Genin test."

Sasuke nodded and continued walking with the two friends. They finally reached Ichiraku's, and Naruto was bouncing in his seat. When Hinata and Sasuke sat down next to him, Naruto called out for Teuchi. "Hey, Old Man! We're back! We brought someone else this time, too!"

Teuchi came out of the kitchen and smiled. "Hello, Naruto, Hinata." Teuchi saw Sasuke, instantly recognizing the Uchiha. "It's a pleasure to have you here, Sasuke."

Sasuke nodded his head in thanks. Teuchi smiled at the kids. "So...what can I get for you...Hey! Naruto! You're wearing the hitai-ate! You passed!"

"You bet I passed!" he said as he adjusted the hitai-ate on his forehead. "We all did!" Naruto shouted as he pointed to Sasuke and Hinata's hitai-ate.

"Well then, as a gift to all of you, first bowl of ramen is on the house!" Teuchi smiled.

Naruto gasped. "NO WAY! I want some Beef Miso Ramen then!" Naruto exclaimed happily.

Hinata giggled. "May I have some Chasu Ramen?" Hinata asked.

Teuchi nodded, and turned to Sasuke. "And for you?"

"Some Wakame Ramen, please," Sasuke said, looking at the counter. Teuchi nodded at the new Genin and walked in the kitchen.

"You want seaweed in your ramen?" Naruto looked a little confused at Sasuke.

"Yes. I like it," he stated bluntly.

"How have you been doing, Sasuke-san?" Hinata first asked.

"You know...since I...spilled the beans," Naruto said with a slight blush.

Sasuke sighed before speaking. "I must thank you, Dobe. If it wasn't for you, I'd be hunting my brother trying to kill him for something he didn't want to do," Sasuke said as his expression softened a little.

Naruto and Hinata, along with most of Sasuke's classmates and teachers, could tell Sasuke had changed. He still had a rough exterior, but he wasn't as cold as he used to be. He was still very annoyed by the fangirls ogling him all the time, and he still let them down hard, same as always. He still liked to keep his distance from people and didn't really say much unless he was addressed first. But he was softer now...gentler somehow.

Naruto smiled at Sasuke and gently punched him in the shoulder. "Hey. Lighten up, man! We're eating ramen. WE GRADUATED!" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke sighed. "Yes. I know."

"What troubles you then, Sasuke-san?" Hinata asked, concern in her voice.

"It's nothing. No need to concern yourselves," he stated simply.

Both Hinata and Naruto were about to say something when Teuchi and Ayame came out with their ramen. "Okay. Wakame Ramen for Sasuke, Beef Miso Ramen for Naruto, and Chasu Ramen for Hinata. Hope you kids enjoy it!"

"You bet I will!" Naruto shouted before stuffing his face with his ramen. Hinata chuckled and began to eat her ramen as well.

Sasuke looked at his ramen before tasting it. _'Not bad...not something I'd eat all the time, though, that's for sure,'_ Sasuke thought as he continued eating.

As the trio ate their ramen, Hiruzen was watching them through his crystal ball. _'Hmm...how intriguing.'_ Hiruzen turned away from the crystal ball and turned to his desk. He picked up a paper titled "New Genin Teams." Hiruzen began to write, and, within minutes, the Jonin teachers began to file into his office. Hiruzen smiled at his Jonin as they stood in front of his desk. "Thank you for coming. I wish to tell you your new Genin Teams."

The Jonin nodded to the Hokage, but Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. "Where's Hatake?"

The Jonin looked around until Asuma, Hiruzen's son, spoke. "Knowing him...probably came across a black cat and had to retrace his steps," the scruffy man commented as he lit a cigarette in his father's office.

"Asuma...put that out." Hiruzen frowned.

"You're one to talk, I can see you reaching for your pipe," Asuma accused. Hiruzen's hand froze when his son called him out. He sighed and pulled out his pipe and lit it.

"Where do you think Hatake-san is, Hokage-sama?" asked a very sultry, velvety voice. Yuhi Kurenai was a fairly new Jonin. She was shocked when the Hokage told her she was allowed to take on a team so early in her career.

Kurenai had black, shoulder-length hair that was very wild and untamed. She was wearing a white dress with a black design that resembled thorns. Underneath the white and black dress, she wore a red, one sleeved mesh shirt and had bandages wrapped around her hips down her thighs, resembling shorts. Her arms were bandaged as well, from her fingers up to her elbows. "Shouldn't we go out and look for him?" she suggested.

"He'll be here soon, Kurenai," Hiruzen stated with a smile.

"Yeah. If you call the 3 hours it'll take to get his ass out of bed and away from those books soon," Asuma said before taking a drag from his cigarette.

Kurenai frowned. "Well, I'm not going to stand here and wait for some lazy Jonin to get out of bed or...to stop reading a book." Kurenai was a little confused about the book situation, but she pushed that to the back of her mind for now. "Hokage-sama, if I may be so bold, may I please have Hatake's address so I can bring him here?" Kurenai asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

Hiruzen saw the seriousness in Kurenai's eyes and sighed. He quickly jotted down Kakashi's address and handed it to the kunoichi. "Don't tell him I gave this to you," Hiruzen stated quietly.

Kurenai nodded, gave a respectful bow and shushined out of the Hokage's office. Kurenai reappeared outside of the Hokage Tower. She looked at the address and leapt from roof to roof to Kakashi's apartment.

"Dad...why did you give her Kakashi's address?" Asuma asked.

"I'm more than sure Kurenai will be able to get Kakashi out of his late streak," Hiruzen chuckled.

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Kurenai finally reached the the roof of Kakashi's apartment and was now looking through his window. Kurenai saw a white-haired man wearing a typical Jonin's uniform. He was indeed reading a book, which Kurenai instantly recognized. _'Icha Icha? So he's a pervert. Fantastic,'_ Kurenai thought sarcastically. Kurenai watched as Kakashi left his bedroom and figured the white-haired man was going to be leaving. She jumped from Kakashi's windowsill to the front door of the apartment building. Within seconds, the door opened, revealing Hatake Kakashi. "Hatake Kakashi?" Kurenai asked.

"Yes? Who's asking?" Kakashi said, trying to walk past Kurenai.

Kurenai frowned and moved to step back in front of Kakashi. "You're supposed to be in the Hokage's office right now for team assignments," Kurenai explained.

"I was going there. I have an errand to run fir—AH! HEY!" Kakashi was hopping behind Kurenai as she began to pull him by his ear.

"You can run your errand as soon as we're finished at the Hokage's office," she stated as she dragged Kakashi every step of the way to the Hokage's office...by his ear.

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"Nice to have you join us, Kakashi," the Hokage chuckled. He could see Kakashi's annoyance and his red and slightly swollen ear.

"I was on my way when Kurenai-san dragged me here." He frowned at the red-eyed woman.

"Indeed," Hiruzen chuckled again. "Now that everyone is here, let's get on with it, shall we?" Hiruzen grabbed a slip of paper from his desk and read it aloud. "Team Six will be Kazuma Ryo, Kazuma Kyo, and Asuka Hotaru. Their sensei will be Akihiko Daisuke." The man known as Daisuke bowed to the Hokage.

Hiruzen smiled and nodded to the Jonin. "Team Seven will be Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Hinata, and Uzumaki Naruto. Their sensei will be Hatake Kakashi. Team Eight will be Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura, and Aburame Shino. Their sensei will be Yuhi Kurenai. And Team Ten will be Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino. Their sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma," he said, smiling at his Jonin. "Tomorrow your students will be informed of what teams they will be on. You are to be there at ten o'clock." He smiled again.

"Hokage-sama, I'd like to make a request," Kurenai began.

"What is it, Kurenai?"

"I request for Hyuuga Hinata to be on my team. With Hinata's Byakugan, my team could be very proficient in tracking," she stated.

"You have made a good point. And believe me when I say I have gone over that point. But I believe that Hinata would be well-suited for Team Seven. Besides, I have talked with Sakura's past sensei and read their reports, all of which indicate that she has a natural talent for genjutsu. With you training her, it's possible she could follow in your footsteps and become the next Genjutsu Mistress."

Kurenai contemplated what the Hokage said and nodded in agreement.

"Wonderful. Now, you are dismissed," Hiruzen stated.

The Jonin bowed to the Hokage and exited. "Kurenai. May I speak with you for a minute?"

Kurenai nodded and shut the door behind the other Jonin. "What is it, Hokage-sama?"

"I would like you to keep an eye on Kakashi," he said, taking a puff from his pipe. "There's a reason he's late to a lot of things. I'm not at liberty to tell you what it is, but I want you, if you can, to make sure he's on time for some things. Like tomorrow."

"You want me to make sure he picks up his students on time," Kurenai stated.

"Indeed. Will you please see to it?" Hiruzen asked. He knew that Kakashi lost track of time when he went to go talk to Obito at the memorial stone, but Hiruzen thought it was time to get Kakashi out of his slump.

Kurenai thought for a moment. She would be training three young students to become strong shinobi, and now she could add babysitting a Jonin with some sort of time-management issue to her list of duties. "Of course, Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen smiled. "Thank you. Now...you're dismissed." Kurenai bowed to the Hokage and left. Hiruzen smiled as he took another drag of his pipe. "This should be rather interesting."

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It was about nine-thirty in the morning when Kurenai reached Kakashi's apartment. She climbed down to the windowsill and peeked inside. She didn't see him in the bedroom. From the looks of his apartment, it was a bachelor's apartment. Not only because he was a bachelor, but the layout of the apartment. It was one large space. The kitchen, living area, and bedroom were all in one large room. The only separate room in the apartment was the bathroom. Kurenai waited for a few more minutes before deducing that Kakashi wasn't home. She leapt down from the window and went to search for the white-haired Jonin.

Kurenai searched some local bars and restaurants. She even waited on top of the Academy roof to see if he was approaching. As ten was approaching, Kurenai ventured farther out to try to find him. She finally found him at the memorial stone, staring at it with slumped shoulders and a downcast expression. "Kakashi," Kurenai spoke. "It's nearly ten."

"It is? I hadn't noticed," he stated with a soft voice. "It seems I've been here for longer than I initially meant to be." His eyes wouldn't sway from the stone.

Kurenai approached, though not touching the man. "Come on, Kakashi. You can always come back. It's not going anywhere," she said, giving him a small smile.

Kakashi gave a sigh and turned to the kunoichi. "Indeed. Let's go." He and Kurenai walked side by side in silence to the Academy. Kakashi didn't know what to say, nor did he want to talk. Kurenai now knew what Kakashi's problem was. _'He seems to have some sort of guilt that has to do with a name on the stone. Perhaps Hokage-sama wants me to redirect his attention from his guilt to something more important.'_

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Iruka stared at the newly-appointed Genin with a smile. "All right, everyone. Now, it's time for you to find out what team you will be on." Iruka could see the anticipation in his students' eyes. "Let's get started. Team Six: Kazuma Ryo, Kazuma Kyo, and Asuka Hotaru. Your sensei will be Akihiko Daisuke," Iruka stated. He saw the three students smile at each other.

"Okay. Team Seven: Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata, and Uchiha Sasuke." When Iruka finished reading the names, there were several different reactions. Both Hinata and Naruto cheered, Naruto putting an arm around both Hinata and Sasuke. Sasuke was a little happy he had been placed on a team with them, but he was taken aback when Naruto half-hugged him. Sakura had the worst reaction. She practically screamed in retaliation.

"WHAT?! Why would you put Sasuke with those losers?!" Sakura yelled.

Iruka gave the pinkette a glare. "Sakura. I don't make the teams. The Hokage does. He puts certain people on a team depending on their level of skill and how well they would work with each other and their sensei," he explained as calmly as he could. "He felt you would be well-suited with different people. If you have a problem with it, take it up with the Hokage." Iruka knew Sakura wouldn't dare go to the Hokage about this. He also knew it would shut her up. "Now...Team Seven, your sensei will be Hatake Kakashi."

Iruka then read the last two teams before smiling at his now former students. "Your new sensei will be here shortly. I wish you all the best of luck." Iruka smiled at his class and left.

There were a few moments of silence before Naruto erupted into a cheer. "WE'RE NINJA!" Naruto yelled, throwing his fist in the air.

"Hn. Calm down, Dobe. I'm happy we've graduated, too. But I'm not going to scream about it," Sasuke bluntly stated.

"Man Naruto. You're so loud. It's really troublesome to hear you scream when I'm going to have to listen to this woman over here do it all day," Shikamaru said in a bored monotone as he pointed to Ino.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Ino screeched.

Shikamaru groaned. "And it begins."

The children laughed and began their own conversations with one another. Ino was still yelling at Shikamaru, Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke were talking about what their team could bring to the table, and Chouji...was eating more barbecue chips. Sakura sat in her seat staring at Sasuke. _'Why? Why can't Kami look down on me once and let Sasuke be on my team? It's just not fair! I will have Sasuke. Somehow...I'll have Sasuke!'_

There was a knock on the door and everyone's attention turned. Kurenai and Kakashi stepped in. Kurenai looked at the class. "I need Haruno Sakura, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino."

The three stood up and went to follow Kurenai. Sakura stopped and smiled at Sasuke. "Bye, Sasuke-kun." She frowned and stomped her feet when Sasuke ignored her. She was about to say something when Kurenai called her name again. She then didn't say anything and followed her new sensei.

Kakashi had a lazy expression as he stared at the class. "Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto. Meet me on the roof in a minute," he said as he shushined away.

The three Genin looked at each other before departing to the roof top. When they got there, they saw their sensei waiting for them. "Sit down," Kakashi ordered. "Now that you're all here, why don't you tell me about yourselves, your names, your dreams, your likes, dislikes, and hobbies?" he said, sounding bored.

"Why don't you go first?" Hinata suggested.

"I'm Kakashi Hatake. I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes… My dreams for the future… hmm… As for my hobbies… I have lots of hobbies…"

_'All we learned was his name...'_ the trio thought.

"Why don't you go first, Blondie?" Kakashi said, pointing to Naruto.

"Okay! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen and my friends Hinata-chan and Sasuke...even though he can still be a Teme. My hobbies are pulling pranks, training, and taking care of my plants. My dream is to become Hokage one day!" he said with a bright smile.

Kakashi looked at Naruto with his visible eyebrow raised. "Taking care of plants?"

"I like gardening! So what?!" Naruto retorted.

Kakashi shrugged, while Hinata giggled. "All right, Miss Heiress. Your turn."

"My name is Hyuuga Hinata. I like cinnamon buns, my friends, and my family. My hobbies are flower pressing and training with Naruto-kun, Neji-niisan, and my sister. My dream is to become a strong heiress who can heal the division within my clan and someday...a wife and mother," she said, blushing a little at the last part.

Kakashi stared at the heiress for a minute, noticing she took a quick peek at Naruto when she said she wanted to be a wife and mother. _'And he's completely oblivious. How predictable,'_ he thought cynically, then said, "Last but not least, Uchiha."

Sasuke sighed at his sensei but spoke. "I'm Uchiha Sasuke. I don't have too many things that I like."

"Oh come on, Teme! You have to like something! What's your favorite food?" Naruto asked.

"...Tomatoes. I like tomatoes." Sasuke saw Naruto smile and give him a thumbs up. "So I like tomatoes. My hobbies are training and taking walks. My dream was to kill my older brother...now my dream is to resurrect my clan and bring back Konoha's Military Police Force," Sasuke stated with a short nod.

Kakashi stared at his new students and couldn't help but smirk underneath his mask. _'Perhaps these kids could possibly be __**the**__ team.'_ Kakashi sighed and spoke. "Meet me at Training Ground 9 at 10 A.M. And don't eat breakfast, or you'll throw up." With that, Kakashi shushined away in a swirl of leaves.

The three teammates looked at each other for several minutes. "What do you think we're gonna do? Train?" Naruto asked.

"I don't think so," Sasuke stated. "I think he's going to test us."

"On what?"

"I don't know. Perhaps on our power or skill," Sasuke said thoughtfully.

"That might be part of it," Hinata commented, "but I think there's more to it."

"Like what, Hinata-chan?" Naruto said, his head tilted to the side a little bit.

"Well...we're a team now. I suspect he just...expects us to work like one," Hinata explained.

"That's right," Sasuke said, standing up. "He's gonna test us on how we can work as a team. So, what can we bring to the table that could help us?"

The three Genin stayed on the roof top, discussing their strengths and weaknesses and coming up with several plans. They discussed several possibilities for the type of test Kakashi was going to give them. They were determined to prove they could work together and be a good, solid, cohesive team.


	6. The Bell Test

**Chapter 6**

**HEY GUYS! Here it is! Finally! I would've had it out sooner, but one part in this chapter was smacking me with a hammer! It was so hard to finish this chapter, but I'm so glad I did. I really love it. I hope you guys enjoy it.**

**Special thanks to my Beta: hinatasgreatestfan! Thanks for doing an awesome job on editing this chapter! **

**ALSO! Id like to give special thanks to Solvdrage for helping with some of the ideas in this story! AAAAAAAND! A VERY special thanks to my friend chibbysu! (Her DA name) She drew very awesome art for this chapter! The links are posted on my profile if you wish to see them! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It would feel nice to own such an huge name like Naruto *dreamy face* **

Naruto woke up with a groan as a ringing noise blared in his ears. He grabbed his pillow from underneath him and whacked his alarm clock with it. Naruto could still hear the ringing from his clock across his bedroom, and he groaned louder. He finally sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes. He climbed out of bed, stumbling a little bit, and reached for his clock. _'7:28...ugh...'_ He turned off the alarm and placed it back on his bedside table. Naruto approached his kitchen and looked in his mini refrigerator. He took out his unopened carton of milk and opened it. As he opened it, he was hit with a very sour smell. He peeked into the carton and frowned. The milk was all lumpy and curd-like. The expiration date was three weeks ago. "I just bought this, too..." Naruto said with a sigh.

It was always like this. Naruto sighed and put the rotten milk in the garbage and looked in his cupboards for something to eat. He only had two instant ramen cups left, so he would need to go shopping soon. He looked further into the cupboard and found a box of instant rice and a package of instant miso soup and decided to have that for breakfast. Naruto looked for some pots and found them underneath the sink. They were very old and very worn out, but they were all he had. He filled them both up with water and turned on his little electric stove to get the water to boil. Naruto waited for several minutes, and when the water was boiling, he added the instant ingredients. He then covered the pots and grabbed two bowls from the dish rack.

Within minutes, the food was ready and he placed his rice in one bowl and the miso soup in another. He walked to his little table and began to eat. As he ate in silence, he couldn't help but think about today's test. _'I hope our plan will work. Hinata-chan and Sasuke came up with a pretty good plan. I hope I don't screw it up...'_ he thought solemnly as he put another bite of rice in his mouth.

As Naruto ate and contemplated his part in the plan, Hinata was sitting at the breakfast table with her father and younger sister. They were eating a breakfast similar to Naruto's: steamed rice, miso soup, and a piece of grilled salmon. Hinata and Hanabi would occasionally glance at each other as the three ate in silence. Finally, Hiashi cleared his throat and spoke to his daughters. "Hanabi, today you will be spending the day with Kaori-san, continuing with your studies on Hyuuga traditions."

"Yes, Otou-sama," Hanabi said before eating a small bite of her salmon. Oh, how Hanabi hated those lessons. Kaori would always hit her with a stick if she wasn't sitting perfectly straight or bowing the proper way. The woman was a slave driver.

"Hinata, why are you not eating your food?" Hiashi asked with a scowl.

"I have eaten so little, Otou-sama, because Kakashi-sensei told my team and me not to eat before our test. He stated we would be ill if we ate. I realized I would need nourishment for energy, but I do not wish to eat any more for fear I might make myself sick," Hinata responded succinctly in her typical polite manner.

Hiashi, who was chewing on some rice, swallowed before answering his daughter. "I see. Perhaps your decision is a wise one. You may go," he stated before returning to his meal.

Hinata stood up and bowed to her father before leaving the room. Hinata returned to her room and grabbed several necessities: kunai, shuriken, and her weapons pouch. Hinata looked at the small clock next to her bed and saw that it was a little past eight. She decided to leave for the training grounds, hoping Naruto and Sasuke would be there so they could go over their plan one more time.

When Hinata arrived at the training grounds, she saw Sasuke leaning against one of the training logs. "Good morning Sasuke-san."

Sasuke looked up and nodded at Hinata. "Hey."

"Has Naruto-kun arrived?" she asked, approaching him.

"Not yet," he stated, stretching his arms over his head. "Knowing him, he'll be here soon. Then he'll ramble on about how awesome it is that we're here," Sasuke added, his voice bored. He did hope Naruto got there soon so they could go over their plan one more time.

Hinata nodded at Sasuke's point. Her crush would do that. Just as she sat down in front of Sasuke, Naruto came running up to them. "Hey, guys!" he yelled.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun," Hinata said with a smile. Sasuke only gave a nod to the blond.

"So, guys...I think we should go over our plan again. I wanna make sure I can do it without screwing up," Naruto said with a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. Sasuke and Hinata stared at Naruto for a moment. Hinata was a little worried at what Naruto had said. _'He must be really nervous if he said something like that.'_ Naruto sat down next to his teammates, and they began to go over their plan.

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Kurenai was standing in front of the memorial stone when she heard someone approaching. Instantly recognizing the chakra signature, Kurenai sighed. "I hope you don't intend this to be a recurring thing, Kakashi," she said staring at the stone. "I do have a team of my own and I don't need to babysit you."

"No one asked you to," Kakashi snapped back. Why was she always following him?

"Actually, I was asked. Hokage-sama wants me to make sure this constant tardiness of yours stops. You're always here when you're tardy, aren't you?" she asked with folded arms.

Kakashi sighed. "I don't see why you care. You should be with your team, teaching them and testing their skills," he stated bluntly.

"As should you. Listen...I don't know who you've lost, and I'm sure you miss them. But you can't let whatever guilt you hold control your life," Kurenai stated with a soft expression.

"How would you know?" Kakashi frowned. Despite his habit of dwelling on his own pain, Kakashi had a tendency to be harsh toward the pain of others, which made him seem downright obtuse at times.

Kurenai frowned. "My father was the one that stopped us when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. He was the one that told us we needed to live so we can teach the next generation of shinobi. He and my mother both died to save this village. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of them, but I don't brood about it. I let their sacrifice fuel my ambition to teach my team all I can before they become Chuunin and Jonin. Their sacrifice keeps me going and fighting."

Kakashi stared at the woman in slight awe. Here she was, in a situation much like his own, but she made something out of herself. He was standing here brooding and staring at the stone in guilt. Perhaps he did need to change. He couldn't continue to live his life like this. "What did you do?"

Kurenai blinked at his statement. "You mean, how did I cope?" Kakashi nodded. Kurenai gave a soft smile. "It's not easy, Kakashi. Nothing is. I trained. I took my father's words to heart and trained as hard as I could so I could make him proud." Stopping a moment, she noticed that Kakashi seemed to be watching her closely, waiting for something. She finished, "If you want my advice, I'd say you should train your team with everything you have so that whoever it is you lost can watch over you with pride, too."

Kakashi stared at the woman before him. He didn't want to admit it, but she was absolutely right. Kakashi merely sighed. "I think we should be getting to our teams," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Kurenai smiled. "I'll buy the first round of drinks after our meetings," she joked.

Kakashi didn't laugh, but he did appreciate the small gesture.

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The three Genin waited impatiently for their sensei. It was nearing ten, and their sensei still hadn't arrived yet. Naruto groaned. "When's sensei going to get here?" he whined.

"Naruto...I'm only going to say this one more time. Shut. Up," Sasuke growled. "I don't wanna hear you whining about how bored you are."

Naruto frowned. "Jerk..." he said folding his arms over his chest and pouting. Suddenly the Genin heard footsteps and turned in the footstep's direction. Kakashi was approaching them.

Kakashi smiled underneath his mask. "Hello, students. Good to see you this morning."

The three Genin stared at their teacher with confusion. He looked a lot happier than he did yesterday. "Alright. Are you ready for your test?" Kakashi heard the three Genin give their affirmative answer. "Good. Now, I have these bells. You have until noon to get them," Kakashi said holding out two bells. His onyx colored eye was now shaped in an upside down U.

"But there are only two bells." Naruto frowned.

"Obviously," Sasuke stated. Naruto glared at Sasuke and stuck his tongue out at him.

"As obvious as Naruto's statement was, there is a reason I have two bells. You're to take the bells from me. Only two of you can have the bells. The one that doesn't get a bell will be tied to a training log while the others have lunch." His eye-smile never wavered. "Oh yeah. One last thing. Anyone who doesn't get a bell will also be sent back to the Academy."

"WHAT?" Naruto yelled. "That's not fair!"

"I agree with the dobe. You can't send us back to the Academy if a Genin can't get a bell from a Jonin," Sasuke stated bluntly.

"I agree with Sasuke-san," Hinata chipped in.

"Yeah! It's such crap that you'd send us all back because we couldn't get the bells!" Naruto screamed.

Kakashi stared at his students, slightly amazed at their already-forming teamwork. Kakashi then smirked. "I know you're all angry about this, but it is the test I have given you."

The three Genin glared at their teacher, but they eventually consented to the test. "Good." He started the timer and turned to his students. "Your test starts now."

All three Genin disappeared into the trees and bushes. Kakashi waited several moments before he pulled out an orange book. _'Might as well do some reading before they decide to attack.' _He then chuckled to himself as he read the scene he opened to. He was just getting into his reading when Naruto jumped out in front of him. _'Just my luck,'_ he thought.

"I've got you now, Kakashi-sensei! You won't be able to get away from me now!" Naruto charged at his teacher, kunai drawn. He went to stab the Jonin, but was the attack was easily dodged. Naruto threw the kunai at the masked man, and said man merely jumped in the air, dodging that attack as well, all while still reading the orange book in his hands. "Hey! Put that book down and take me seriously!" Naruto yelled.

Naruto noticed that his sensei wasn't even paying attention to him, which just served to fuel Naruto's rage even more. Naruto charged at his sensei one more time, and, once again, it proved to be futile. This time, however, Kakashi was behind Naruto after the blond's failed attack. The blond slowly turned his head around to stare at the white-haired man, almost in a robotic manner. A look of horror was plastered on his face.

"LEAF VILLAGE SECRET FINGER JUTSU: A THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH!" Kakashi yelled as he thrust his two pointer and middle fingers into Naruto's behind.

Naruto's eyes widened as he flew in the air, his hands clutching his butt. In midair, Naruto burst into a cloud of smoke, leaving Kakashi a little shocked.

_'Hmm...it seems he's able to create Shadow Clones. Interesting,'_ Kakashi thought as he resumed his reading.

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Hinata was watching from the brush when Naruto had engaged Kakashi in battle. When she saw Naruto get thrown into the air by the...unusual jutsu, her heart nearly stopped. She let out a large sigh of relief when she saw that it was one of Naruto's Clones. She watched quietly as her sensei began a slow pace away from her, then stood up to quietly follow him. She figured, if she stayed hidden, she would be able to gather some sort of information and relay it back to her teammates.

As Hinata trailed Kakashi, he suddenly vanished in a swirl of leaves. But the leaves continued to swirl and began to wrap around her. Hinata activated her Byakugan, and with her new profound vision, she was able to see chakra all around her. '_A Genjutsu. Really, Kakashi-sensei? Of all things...a Genjutsu?' _Hinata made a hand sign and quietly cut her chakra flow. The leaves instantly vanished, and Hinata was left alone among the trees. Hinata searched the vicinity for Kakashi with her Byakugan, and saw a familiar signature several meters away. '_Naruto-kun!'_

Hinata leapt into the trees and raced towards Naruto's chakra signature. As she neared, she heard Naruto speaking to himself. She followed and listened carefully.

Naruto, being completely oblivious to Hinata's presence, continued his miniature soliloquy. "I sure hope I can find Sasuke and Hinata-chan. I don't wanna slow them down. I mean...Sasuke and Hinata-chan were at the top of the class. And, yeah, I've gotten stronger, but I'm nowhere near their level. Maybe if I give up and say I'll go back to the Academy, they can move forward and be strong ninja. I mean...what's one more year in the Academy?" Naruto chuckled, trying to convince himself that sacrificing his part in the team would make him happy.

Hinata watched her crush walk on, and felt tears trickling down her cheek. "No, Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled. "You can't give up!" Hinata then leapt down next to Naruto, the tears still in her eyes.

"H-Hinata-chan? W-Were you...listening to me think out loud?"

Hinata hung her head a little bit and nodded. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but you can't think like that! You're on this team for a reason! You can't just give up!"

"But you guys deserve to be Genin and be true shinobi. I don't mind giving up my dream for another year to make sure you're able to continue your dream," Naruto said with a sad smile.

Hinata cried a little harder when Naruto said that. "But Naruto-kun! My dream wouldn't come true without you...to...be there...on my team!" Hinata said, only just saving herself from suddenly revealing her undying love to the blond. She had this haunting feeling that Naruto was going to catch what she really meant and completely reject her. _'Way to go, Hinata! You just totally blew it with Naruto! Now you'll never be able to have cute little Uzumaki babies running around your house!'_

Naruto stared at the girl, noticing she seemed a little flustered. Her original meaning also came through loud and clear. _'Your dream wouldn't come true without me, huh? I think things are going to get _very _interesting, Hinata-chan,'_ Naruto thought with a sly smile. Naruto instantly put on his infamous cheesy grin and spoke. "You can't get rid of me that easily, Hinata-chan." He smirked. He noticed Hinata staring at him with a blush. "Sorry I was down on myself. I guess I'm so used to failure, the thought of becoming a true Genin seemed too good to be true. And when Kakashi-sensei said that we might go back to the Academy, I knew it was. So I figured I'd do what I could to make sure the team was a success and take out the weak link." Naruto then rubbed behind his head sheepishly.

Hinata stared at the boy with a bright red face. "So...are you going to stay, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto smiled. "Yes, Hinata-chan. I'm staying," he said placing a hand on her shoulder.

She was so happy that she couldn't help but smile from ear to ear, but even then she couldn't quite get up the nerve to show Naruto just how much he meant to her...not yet.

"Well...it would probably be a good idea to find Sasuke. I mean...if we're going to get those bells, three on one are better odds than one-on-one," Naruto said with a nod.

Hinata agreed. The two friends walked side-by-side to find their third teammate.

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Sasuke was on high alert as he walked through the training grounds. He didn't know where Hinata or Naruto was, but, unless they both had the bells, he wasn't too concerned. As Sasuke walked down the path, he noticed a leg hanging down from a tree branch. When Sasuke looked up, he saw his sensei sitting on the branch reading an orange book. "Hey! I want those bells!" Sasuke yelled as he leapt up towards his sensei.

Kakashi looked down at the oncoming Sasuke and calmly jumped out of the way. Sasuke landed on the ground, skidding on his feet several feet back. The raven-haired boy reached into his back pouch and threw a handful of shuriken at his sensei. Sasuke watched as the shuriken impaled themselves in the older man's body. Sasuke wasn't surprised at all when the man disappeared in a puff of smoke and a large log appeared with the shuriken in it. The boy's onyx eyes scanned the area around him, trying to locate his elusive sensei.

Kakashi was standing on a branch of a tree, hidden from Sasuke's eyes. _'Hmmm. Let's see how strong the Uchiha is.'_ Kakashi put his erotica book away, moved to Sasuke's line of sight, and watched as the boy rushed towards him again. Kakashi blocked Sasuke's punch to his face, grabbing his fist in the process. Kakashi grabbed Sasuke's other fist as the boy tried to punch him again. He was slightly taken by surprise when Sasuke kicked up from the ground, contorting his body to kick at his head. Kakashi easily recovered from the shock and blocked the boy's foot by letting go of one of Sasuke's hands to grab his foot. Kakashi felt the boy swing down to grab a bell, but Kakashi moved quickly and dropped Sasuke before the boy's hand could reach the bell.

Sasuke fell onto his head with a thump. He sat up and put a hand on his head. He growled at the white-haired man, who was now standing several feet away from him. He noticed Kakashi giving him an intense gaze. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the man. _'Why's he staring at me like that?'_

Sasuke stood up and dusted himself off, staring at the man before him with matching intensity. Sasuke took a deep breath and rushed towards his sensei once again, and began his attack. Sasuke threw several punches and kicks at the man. One of Sasuke's kicks landed on Kakashi's left rib cage. In an instant, Kakashi burst into a puff of smoke. Sasuke figured it was a substitute, but, suddenly, he was engaged in a hand-to-hand combat match with his teacher. As Sasuke fought with his sensei, something was bothering him. _'Why would Kakashi substitute with nothing? He is a Jonin...perhaps a hidden smoke bomb exploded to throw me off and make me drop my guard!'_ Sasuke somehow deduced.

Kakashi sighed as he watched Sasuke from a tree branch. _'He was easier to place in a genjutsu than I originally thought. Perhaps these kids aren't the team I thought they'd be.'_ Kakashi reached into his cream-colored pouch and pulled out his erotica book. Kakashi let out another sigh before leaving the Uchiha to the genjutsu.

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Naruto and Hinata were walking side by side, observant of their surroundings. As they walked, grunting sounds could be heard in the distance. Naruto and Hinata looked at each other and gave a nod to each other, silently agreeing to go check out the strange noise. They ran towards the noise, and, when they found the source, Hinata and Naruto had to cover their mouths to keep them from laughing. There, before them, was Sasuke, valiantly fighting and defending himself against...a log.

Hinata and Naruto were snickering behind their hands, trying to not take Sasuke out of the genjutsu. "Oh man..." Naruto whispered. "This is so great! This is great blackmailing material," Naruto said while trying to hold back his laughter. "I wish I could get a picture of this."

Hinata was one step ahead of Naruto. Hinata had originally brought a camera to commemorate her first day as a ninja, but this was a much better use for it. Hinata aimed her camera at Sasuke and began snapping pictures. She took five pictures total, all of them were of Sasuke in different poses. It was obvious in the pictures at the boy was in a genjutsu due to his eyes being hazed over. Hinata then pocketed her camera before speaking to Naruto. "Should we cancel the genjutsu?"

"Let me have a few more moments of this bliss." Naruto watched Sasuke continue his attack on the log for several more minutes, listening to the raven-haired boy swear at their "sensei" before he finally nodded to Hinata, signaling her to cut the genjutsu.

Hinata made the necessary hand sign and canceled the genjutsu. They watched as Sasuke slowly began to realize that he was fighting not Kakashi but a log. Sasuke looked at his surroundings and saw Hinata and Naruto looking rather amused. He shoved his hand in his pockets and seemed to pout a little bit, which caused Naruto to burst out laughing. "Oh, man, Sasuke! I can't believe you got caught in that genjutsu! What a loser!"

"Can it, Dobe! I'm not the loser here!" Sasuke retorted.

"What'd you say?"

"Um...guys, don't you think we should try and figure out a way to get the bells?" Hinata stated.

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other before scoffing. Sasuke was the first to speak. "Do you have any ideas, Hinata?"

"Well...I believe there is a hidden meaning to this test," Hinata started.

"Like...'look underneath the underneath'?" Naruto asked. That saying was one of the first things Iruka had taught them. In many missions, there tended to be a hidden meaning or a hidden task within the mission.

Hinata nodded and smiled. "Exactly. But I don't know what it could be."

Sasuke frowned. "Well...it has to do with the bells. I mean, why else would he have them if they weren't important?" Sasuke said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Maybe he has a hidden third bell somewhere."

Naruto was sitting cross-legged on the ground, deep in thought. _'That's one way to look underneath the underneath. A hidden bell...but none of us could take him on. There's no way we can get our own bell.'_ Then it hit Naruto. _'We're not supposed to get our own bells!'_ Naruto then smirked. "I know what the test is about!" Naruto exclaimed.

Hinata and Sasuke, who were throwing out ideas, turned to Naruto. "Oh, yeah? What is it about, then, Dobe?"

"Well...Sasuke, you said earlier that it wouldn't be fair to send us back if we couldn't get the bells from a Jonin. Well...honestly, separately there is no way any of us could get a bell."

"What are we gonna do then, Naruto? We can't just sit around and wait for the bell to ring," Sasuke explained.

"Well, obviously. But think about it. Trying to get a bell on our own is stupid. Our chances of getting a bell are slim to none. But what would our chances be if we all tried to get a bell...together?" Naruto asked with a large smile.

Hinata smiled. "It would be much higher. We may be Genin, but, if we work together, there is a higher possibility of getting a bell!"

Sasuke stared at Naruto and scoffed. "Who would have thought you would've figured it out, Naruto? I must say, I'm slightly impressed."

Naruto smiled brightly. That was the first time he'd received a compliment from Sasuke. "I think I might have an idea."

"What is it Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

"Okay. So this is what I was thinking." Naruto smirked.

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Kakashi was not a happy man. Not only had he lost his book, he lost it to Naruto!

_**~Flashback~**_

_Kakashi continued his leisurely path to nowhere as his eyes scanned over the very worn, very dirty page. It was fairly obvious he was rather enjoying his book. Although he was aware of two chakra signatures behind him that belonged to Naruto and Sasuke, he didn't feel the need to bring his attention to them. Kakashi figured, if they tried to attack, he'd be able to defend himself well enough without taking his eyes off his book. Kakashi was slightly surprised when the Genin threw smoke bombs at him, surrounding the area with smoke._

_Kakashi was waiting patiently for either the smoke to clear or the Genin to attack. He was caught **completely** off guard when he felt his book taken from him. When the smoke finally cleared, there was no sign of the two Genin. Kakashi frowned and began to look for his students. And his book._

_**~End Flashback~**_

Kakashi frowned as he scanned his surroundings. _'I can't believe I'm the one tracking the kids down.' _ Kakashi pouted a little behind his mask. Kakashi noticed a small orange square several meters away. Kakashi blinked at the obvious trap. _'Do they honestly think I'm going to fall for it?'_ Kakashi sighed and began to walk away from his book.

Hinata, who was hiding in the trees, watched Kakashi walk away. _'Looks like Kakashi-sensei forgot to look underneath the underneath.'_ Hinata smiled and began to move as fast as she could towards Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto and Sasuke were also hiding among the trees but were much farther from where Hinata was stationed. "Do you think Kakashi-sensei fell for it?" Naruto whispered to his teammate.

"We can only hope," Sasuke said with a shrug. The two boys sat quietly after that, waiting for Hinata to return. They only had to wait a few minutes before she landed next to them. "So? Did Kakashi buy it?"

Hinata nodded. "He quickly suspected we were going to do a simple trap. He's headed this way." She smiled. "It's all according to your plan, Naruto-kun."

Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "Heheh. Yeah. I was really happy when you showed up, Hinata. I was kinda expecting Kakashi to grab his book and go."

Hinata smiled at her crush. "Well...let's see if we can see this plan through." She smiled again.

Sasuke slightly waved at the couple. "Shhh! Here he comes," the boy whispered. Naruto and Hinata looked down, and, sure enough, Kakashi was walking beneath them. Naruto smirked at his teammates and made a hand sign.

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.

Kakashi was a little unhappy at the moment. His students hadn't popped up since he found their "trap", and he was getting to be more and more positive that the alarm was going to go off soon and that he would have to send his students back to the Academy. Kakashi didn't want to admit it, but he didn't want to send these kids back. Kakashi turned his attention from his thoughts to his surroundings. He could feel his students' chakra signatures near him. _'Are they following me? That's not possible. I would have felt their signatures earlier.'_

"Hey! Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled from above.

Kakashi looked up and saw his three students flying straight for him. Kakashi jumped out of the way, his three students landing where he once stood. The three took their fighting stances and looked ready to charge. Kakashi stared at his students and mentally noted their stances. Naruto had taken the stance of the Dragon Style, Sasuke had slipped into that of the Uchiha Style, and Hinata had assumed the Juuken stance.

The three children attacked Kakashi with everything they had. They punched, kicked, and palm-striked with all their hearts, trying to land even one attack on their teacher. Kakashi was honestly having a hard time trying to fend off his three students. He had learned that both Naruto and Hinata had trained over the break, but he wasn't convinced they had improved...until now. Hinata had attacked with such vigor and precision, and Naruto wasn't nearly as sloppy as he used to be. Kakashi felt a small jab onto his ribs, and he jumped back. He deduced Hinata to be the one that struck him. He could tell there was a slow down of chakra flow around his ribs.

Kakashi frowned and charged his students, but what they did surprised him. They jumped back up into the trees. It confused him. _'Why would they attack and just suddenly...leave?'_ Kakashi became more confused when they returned to their position in front of him. _'And now they're back. What are they planning?'_ Kakashi couldn't keep a small smirk off his face. _'They're planning.'_ He was very happy that these children were understanding the meaning behind this test.

The three student's took their stances again, but something was different. _'Hinata's and Sasuke's stances are quite sloppy. It's almost like they aren't themselves.'_ Kakashi then realized that the three, or at least Hinata and Sasuke, were clones. Kakashi then charged his "students". They just seemed to stand there. That just confirmed Kakashi's guess of them being clones. Kakashi drew a kunai from a hidden pocket and swiped at the clones. The kunai punctured every clone, causing a large deal of smoke to surround Kakashi.

Kakashi waited patiently for the smoke to clear, but it wasn't. It seemed to get darker. Kakashi sniffed the air. _'This isn't smoke...this is gunpowder!'_ Kakashi realized what jutsu this was. His friend Asuma used this jutsu. _'Crap! But how could this happen? Their trap was my...Shit...'_ It had finally hit Kakashi. His book was a trap...to get him to go the other way. His book wasn't to bait him towards the book. It baited him to go the other way! _'Way to go, Kakashi. You didn't look underneath the underneath. I have to get out of here.' _ He knew he couldn't run. He wouldn't make it out of the blast. He could only do one thing. And he was _**not**_ happy about it.

Kakashi made a quick hand sign and substituted himself just as a large fireball crashed into the gun powder, causing a HUGE explosion. Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata had managed to make it far enough away before Sasuke launched his **Grand Fireball Jutsu**. Naruto looked at his teammates with a smile. "Think we got him?"

"I don't know," Sasuke said with a shrug. "I mean...that blast was big enough to probably leave a nice crater in the ground."

"True...but Kakashi-sensei is a Jonin. I'm sure that he made it out of the blast safely," Hinata stated with a nod.

"And I am."

Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke all gasped in surprise and turned around robotically to look at their sensei. Kakashi was staring at them, his eye once again in the shape of a "U". He was holding the little alarm clock in his hands and showing it to his students. One minute until time was up. "Looks like you guys failed."

"But we didn't really fail, did we, Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata asked.

"What do you mean?"

"It was a test of teamwork!" Naruto exclaimed. "We wouldn't be able to get the bells by ourselves, and there are only two bells. Which means that if two people got the bells, but the third didn't, you'd have to send us back to the Academy anyways."

Sasuke nodded. "It's true. The Hokage wouldn't pass a two-man Genin team unless it was absolutely necessary."

"We did what we could to prove that we could function as a team," Naruto said with a smile.

Kakashi stared at his students and couldn't help but feel a little proud that his students figured the test out. "Well then...congratulations! You three passed!"

"ALL RIGHT!" Naruto yelled. He leapt into the air from the tree branch but missed it on the landing and crashed into the ground.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata gasped and jumped down to check on her crush.

"...Ow..."

Sasuke sighed. "What a dobe," he muttered before jumping down to join his team. "Nice one, Naruto."

"Shut up, Sasuke!" Naruto grumbled in the dirt. Naruto sat up and spat out the dirt in his mouth and pouted.

Hinata giggled and dusted off Naruto's shoulders. She then helped him up with a smile.

"Thanks, Hinata-chan. Who's up for some ramen?" He cheered.

"Actually, Naruto, your ramen will have to wait. I have a team mission for you," Kakashi said with a nod. "It's more of a team bonding sort of thing."

"Do we have to do it now?" Naruto groaned. "I want some Ichiraku's!"

"Yes, now. Besides, it will benefit you the most." Kakashi nodded again. "Now, I want you guys to take Naruto shopping."

Naruto's face paled. "...Shopping?"

Hinata blinked. "You okay, Naruto-kun?"

"Uh...yeah. Fine. Um...why do I need to go shopping, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said, feeling a little fidgety.

"Naruto, your jumpsuit is hideous," Kakashi stated bluntly.

"Hey! I like my jumpsuit!" Naruto retorted.

"Naruto...it screams 'Here I am! Kill me now!'" Kakashi explained. "We need you to wear more ninja attire. You need to be wearing more neutral colors."

"But what about like...Sakura! She's in bright frickin' pink!" Naruto screamed.

"Girls are different, Naruto. Kunoichi need to dress so that they'll look like common civilians if their hitai-ate are hidden. Kunoichi tend to go undercover far more often than any male shinobi. So if their clothes tend to be a little more colorful, it's perfectly all right," Kakashi explained.

Naruto sighed. "All right..." Naruto wasn't happy about doing this. He knew what was going to happen, and he didn't want Hinata and Sasuke to see what happened when he walked through the doors of a shop.

"Good. Now go," Kakashi said, shooing them away. Naruto sighed and began walking back towards the village, Hinata and Sasuke walking beside him.

Once the three were out of sight, Kakashi instantly ran towards the crater that was created by Naruto's Burning Ash and Sasuke's Fireball Jutsu. Once he was there, he saw a tiny pile of ash in the center of the crater. He quickly raced down to the pile and fell to his knees. He shakily reached out and grabbed handfuls of the ashes and let them slide through his fingers. A river of tears running down his visible eye. "MY PRECIOUS!" Kakashi cried.

As soon as those words escaped his mouth, Kakashi blinked. "Where the hell did that come from?" Kakashi blinked again. He then dug a small hole with his hand and buried his disintegrated Icha Icha book. He sighed. Perhaps he would take up Kurenai's offer on the drinks.

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The three Genin walked through the village, searching for some clothing and ninja essential stores. Naruto looked rather nervous, and Hinata had instantly picked up on it. "Naruto-kun? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Hinata-chan...I'm fine," he said, putting on a fake smile.

Sasuke pointed to a clothing shop that the Uchihas had particularly shopped at when they all existed. "Let's go."

Naruto swallowed hard but followed his teammate into the shop. The shopkeeper smiled brightly when she saw Sasuke walk in. "Uchiha-san! So good to see you again! And Hyuuga-san! It's a pleasure to have you in our– Why are _you_ here? Be gone, demon!" she said, going to grab the broom.

Naruto started backing away to leave the store. Hinata and Sasuke saw Naruto leaving and frowned. Hinata rushed after him, and Sasuke stayed to figure things out. "What the hell was that about, Chiyoko? Why did you scare him off? We brought him here to shop for clothes!" Sasuke yelled.

"F-Forgive me, Uchiha-san, but that mon...er...boy isn't allowed in my shop. He is a menace and a murderer!" she proclaimed; her voice had been shaky at first, but it gained strength as she spoke.

"How so?" Sasuke glared.

"I am not at liberty to say, Uchiha-san," Chiyoko stated calmly.

Sasuke growled at the woman. "You will let him return to this establishment and allow him to purchase clothes, or I'll make sure you are ruined," Sasuke said with a glare.

Chiyoko shuddered under the intense glare she received and nodded her head.

Sasuke walked outside to tell Naruto that he could come inside and shop, but Naruto declined. "Guys...you don't have to. It's not worth it," he said quietly.

"Naruto-kun...why wouldn't she let you in her store?" Hinata asked.

"I don't know," Naruto sighed.

"Oh, come on, Naruto. Yes you do!" Sasuke yelled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"No! I don't! They call me a demon-child, a monster, and a murderer. I know I can be a prankster, and I probably offended a few people, but I'm not a murderer. If I'm a demon because of my pranks, so be it. But I don't understand why they won't let me in. And it's not just them. Grocery stores, restaurants, and weapon stores won't let me in to shop either. I get hand-me-downs and dull weapons. The only things grocery stores will allow me to buy are instant foods like ramen."

Hinata and Sasuke stared at the blond in shock. They never knew Naruto was treated this terribly. It was obvious the villagers didn't like him, but they didn't know why, and they wanted to find out. "Well, then, Naruto-kun...let's find a store that will allow you to shop. We can't let this experience be a bad one," Hinata said, trying to cheer Naruto up.

Naruto looked at Hinata sadly. "I don't know, guys..."

Sasuke sighed and began to push Naruto through the village.

"Hey! Sasuke! What the hell?" Naruto yelled as he was pushed along.

"You're going shopping. Deal with it." He grumbled. Hinata followed with a giggle.

The team had entered three other clothing stores and they all treated Naruto the same. Naruto was ready to give up. He wanted to go home and forget about this experience, but Hinata managed to convince him that they should try one more shop. It was a newly established store, and it was worth a chance.

As the three walked in, they bid a polite hello to the store owner. Naruto's greeting was more reserved and quiet. The owner, who was a rather scruffy and overweight man, looked up and smiled. "Hello! Welcome to Iwao's Clothing. I am Iwao. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Naruto looked at the man, a little shocked. "We're...fine," he said with a bright smile. They'd found someone who was kind and willing to let him shop! Naruto was almost moved to tears.

"We're looking for more neutral shinobi clothes for our teammate," Hinata said with a smile.

Iwao nodded. "I see. I'm doing a special right now for newly appointed Genin. Any team that comes in and purchases their clothing here, receives a special discount," he said with a grin.

Sasuke blinked. "That's very generous. We thank you," he said with a nod.

Hinata smiled. "Yes. Thank you!"

Iwao nodded and returned to his work behind the counter. Naruto and the others were searching the clothing racks for any and all clothing. Naruto had found some simple black shinobi pants and several shirts, both long- and short-sleeved, but he was still searching for something special for his new outfit, a signature article of clothing. Nothing was popping out at him, though. Nothing.

Sasuke and Hinata were doing a little shopping as well. Sasuke had found a traditional Gi. It was black with a gray border and tie. He also found some gray shinobi pants as well. He was quite satisfied with his choices, but they would need some modifications. The Gi needed the Uchiha fan on it.

Hinata had found a ninja dress that she very much enjoyed. The dress was cream in color. It had long sleeves that opened up around the wrist and draped down at her sides. Around the sleeves and the collar was large stitching of black thread. It also had a deep violet sash that was to be tied around the waist. It was also short. If it was long, she wouldn't have had free movement and could have been unable to perform to her fullest potential. It wasn't designed like Sakura's Qipao dress. Sakura's dress was long, but it had slits on the side, allowing Sakura to move freely and be flexible. The dress hit her mid-thigh. She would wear spandex shorts with it. It was a practical length, though. It allowed her to be flexible and move like any shinobi should. She did, however, note that when her father saw her new attire, he would not be happy. She decided she would deal with that later.

The team came up to pay for their outfits, and Naruto looked a little dejected. "Is there something wrong, young man?" Iwao asked.

"Nothing's wrong really. I'm very happy with my picks, but I was just...kind of looking for a signature piece. An article of clothing that just screams 'I am Uzumaki Naruto'!" Naruto chuckled slightly.

"Did you just say Uzumaki?" came a loud but feminine voice.

The four turned towards the door and saw two children, a boy and a girl, both around the Genin's age. "It's about time you two got back." Iwao frowned.

The boy had spiky brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, and stood at five foot seven. He was tall for a thirteen year old. The girl stood at five feet with bright red hair and bright red eyes. She had a Konoha hitai-ate around her forehead and wore brown glasses.

Iwao sighed. "Kids, this is my son Ichirou and his fiancée Karin."

Naruto blinked. "Uh, hi. I'm Uzumaki Naruto. This is Hyuuga Hinata. And that's Uchiha Sasuke," Naruto introduced.

Karin slightly narrowed her eyes at Naruto. _'So he is an Uzumaki...' _Karin then smiled. "Welcome to our store."

"It isn't your store, Karin. You decided against the business." Iwao frowned.

Karin frowned. "Well, bleeeeeh to you, too!" Karin huffed.

Ichirou chuckled nervously. "Otou-san, don't be like that. Karin became a ninja so we could stay and work here in Konoha."

"Humph! Doesn't mean I have to like it!" Iwao said, crossing his arms.

Karin rolled her eyes and walked in with Ichirou, carrying in material and supplies for the shop. Karin looked at all the clothes, and blinked at Naruto's pile. "That's it?"

Naruto blinked. "Well...I kinda wanted a signature article of clothing...but I couldn't find one that I liked," he said sheepishly.

"Why don't you make a custom order?" Ichirou suggested.

"You can do that?" Naruto blinked.

Karin blinked in confusion. "Uh...yeah!" she said, placing the thread and fabric on the sewing table. "We do custom orders for pretty much anything."

Naruto turned back to the owner and smiled brightly. "Really? Oh man! I would love to have something unique and different!"

Iwao turned to his son and nodded. "All right. I'm sure Ichirou will be able to come up with something. He's the more creative between the two of us."

"AHEM!" Karin yelled.

"...Between the two of us," he restated, ignoring Karin's newest attempt to have herself be counted as a crucial part of his family's business

Team 7 chuckled nervously. Iwao rang up the kids separately, giving each of them the New Genin Team discount. "Now...Uzumaki-san," Iwao started. "You will have to pay for your order once it is complete. It will take several days to make. The price will depend on how complicated the design is."

Naruto nodded. "Fair enough," he said with a smile. "Um...if I could, before you start making it, can I see the design to see how much I like it?" he asked innocently.

Ichirou smiled. "You can see it now. I'm done."

"Really? That was fast!" Naruto beamed. He looked at the design and silently gasped. "Oh wow..." Naruto stared at the sketch on the paper and smiled happily. "That's perfect! That totally suits me!"

Ichirou blushed slightly and smiled. "Thank you. We'll see you in several days, Uzumaki-san."

"Thank you." He turned to Hinata and Sasuke. "Come on guys! Ramen!" He chuckled nervously. He pulled out his frog-shaped wallet, Gama-chan as he called it, to make sure he had enough money to pay for him and his friends. _'If we each have two bowls, I'll be able to afford groceries for this week!'_ he thought excitedly.

Hinata instantly agreed, happy to go out with Naruto. Sasuke sighed and agreed. "ALL RIGHT! Let's go!" Naruto yelled, rushing out of the tailor's shop.

Sasuke and Hinata thanked the shop owner, took their leave, and followed Naruto.

The three watched Team seven leave. Karin was the first to speak. "That Naruto kid is weird." Iwao and Ichirou silently agreed. Karin then turned to the older man and spoke again. "Iwao...I think you should put the Uzumaki symbol on the back of Naruto's outfit."

"Hmph. Why?" Iwoa said going to his sewing table.

"Because he's an Uzumaki. He's one of the last ones from Uzushiogakure. Even if you don't put the True Uzumaki Symbol, at least put the Uzumaki Swirl, one of Konoha's symbols on the back. It'll show who he is!" Karin argued.

Iwao argued back, "But he doesn't even know who he is! He probably doesn't even understand why the Swirl is part of Konoha's history!"

"SO WHAT?"

"Uh guys...?" Ichirou interrupted. Iwao and Karin turned to the boy. "It is one of Konoha's famous symbols. That's all the excuse we need to add it to the design. If he asks why, that is the reason we'll give."

Karin and Iwao looked at each other, then back at Ichirou and smiled. "I'm engaged to such a smart boy!" Karin gushed.

"You wouldn't be if it wasn't for his mother and yours," Iwao grumbled.

"Oh, shut up, Iwao! If I remember what your wife said, you were all for this seven years ago!" Karin argued.

Iwao grumbled as he began his work on Naruto's order.

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It was cold. Quiet. Dark. Damp. Several sounds came from the silence. Squeaking. Hissing. Then silence. It was only the calm before the storm. Tortured screeches echoed through the darkness. There was only one deduction: the snake in the room was hungry, and rat was on the menu. Then more hissing ensued. It was the only sound in the darkness. Soon...there was more. But the hissing sounded more like...laughter? How was that possible?

"Ku ku ku. You attempted to escape. How could you do this to me?" Lanterns were suddenly lit throughout the room. But it wasn't a room: more like a dungeon. "I'm surprised by you, Kokone."

A small girl was chained to the wall behind large steel bars. She wore fishnet stockings with beige-colored shorts. She also had on a fishnet shirt with a lavender vest over it. An Otogakure hitai-ate covered her forehead. Her clothes were dirty, rumpled, and had several holes and tears in them. Her eyes were puffy and had dark circles under her eyes. Her once shimmering silver hair was now covered in dirt and matted in several places. She looked up with her eerie yellow eyes full of hatred.

"Oho...such hatred in those eyes. Why do you hate me so? I took you in when you had no one."

"Liar! My mother sold me to you so you wouldn't harm anyone else! The deepest circle of Hell is reserved only for you, Orochimaru!" she spat. "Besides! You only wanted me for my power!"

Orochimaru chuckled and made a hand sign as he stared into his prisoner's eyes.

Kokone's eyes widened, and she gritted her teeth. The pain coursing through her body was extreme. Black seal markings spread up onto her cheek as she held in her screams. It was the Cursed Seal of Heaven. She had received it when she had arrived at Orochimaru's hideout all those years ago. This was his ultimate method of controlling her. Whenever she showed any sort of rebellion, this was her punishment.

"It seems you learned not to scream. Well done." Orochimaru chuckled and canceled the activation. "You should behave while you rot down here, Kokone. Soon...you will be used for what you were born to be. My new host." He chuckled again, sending chills up Kokone's spine.

Kokone's eyes widened. _'No...'_

Orochimaru cackled. "Enjoy your time here, Kokone. It will be short-lived."

Kokone watched the demon leave, and she couldn't help but feel slightly defeated. She had to find a way out. But how would she? She had already tried once, and now she was here. _'What can I do?'_

**End Chapter**

**Soooooo? What'd you think? I very much enjoyed this chapter! Okay guys! Don't forget: Check out my friend, chibbysu on Deviantart. Apparently we can't post links now on our profile (RAGE FACE!) But you can still go to Deviantart, type in chibbysu, and on her second page should be the drawings of Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke in their new outfits! So go check it out! They're awesome!**

**And...REVIEW! Lemme say that again, okay? REVIEW!**

**Love ya!**

**~Lu Lu-Chan25**


	7. Learning How to Protect

Chapter 7

**Heeeeeey y'all! How goes it? Well...here it is! My latest chapter. I hope you guys like it! By the way, school starts for me in a week, so my time will be now split between work, writing, and school. So don't be angry if it takes a little bit longer for me to post a chapter.**

**By the way...a friend posted a very touching eulogy for Kakashi's _Icha Icha_ book. **

_**Friends, we are gathered together to remember a dear comrade. Kakashi's Icha Icha book was a loyal and true friend. He brought enjoyment to all and stood by Kakashi through some of the most difficult times in the Jonin's life. We cannot forget that tragic accident that took Icha Icha's life. Please, join me in a moment of silence for Kakashi's book... - Solvdrage**_

**Thank you for those touching words. * wipes tear * **

**Also...I'd like to thank my Beta hinatasgreatestfan. Thank you!**

**Okay! Enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. End of story.**

It had been a week since Team Seven had passed Kakashi's bell test, and now they were a working team. There were a plethora of D-Ranked missions lately, so Team Seven, along with the other Genin teams, was doing three to four D missions a day. Team Seven was currently in the Hokage's office awaiting their second mission of the day.

"Well..." Iruka started. "Madam Shijimi has lost her–"

"NO! I am not finding that stupid woman's cat again!" Naruto screamed. "We've only been doing these missions for a week, and we've had to find her damn cat nine times already! We've had to look for that cat twice in one day...TWICE!"

"Naruto! How dare you call the Fire Daimyo's wife such a name!" Iruka scolded.

Hiruzen sighed at the teacher and student. He felt bad for any team who had to find that woman's cat. "Naruto, I understand your frustration. It's quite obvious why the cat runs away, but you can't call the woman stupid. She is a woman of power and deserves respect," Hiruzen explained.

Naruto folded his arms and puffed out his cheeks into his signature pout. "Fine. But it doesn't mean I have to like it."

Hiruzen chuckled and rummaged through the mission requests on his desk. He finally found one that would do well for this team. "All right Naruto. I have a good mission for you. It's a stepping stone towards being bodyguards in the future," Hiruzen said, handing the mission request to Kakashi.

Naruto's eyes widened. "Really?!" he said excitedly.

Sasuke instantly stood a little straighter when he heard the Hokage's description. "Will it really help us?"

"Yes. It will." Hiruzen smirked. "You three will learn about the safety of the clients, which is one of the most important lessons in a bodyguard mission."

Kakashi read the mission request and silently chuckled. _'Safety of the clients indeed.'_ Kakashi cleared his throat and spoke. "All right, team. Let's go."

"All right!" Naruto cheered. He then rushed out of the Hokage's office.

"N-Naruto-kun! Wait! We don't even know where the client's house is yet!" Hinata called as she chased after him.

Sasuke sighed. "How annoying..." he then shoved his hands in his pockets and followed his teammates.

Kakashi looked at his Hokage and chuckled. "I liked your method of catching their attention, Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen chuckled as well. "This old dog still has some tricks left in him, Kakashi."

Kakashi nodded and bowed to his leader before following his students.

.

.

.

"I can't believe the Hokage tricked us..." Sasuke grumbled. He was sitting cross-legged with his hands over his chest and had a angry scowl on his face. Sitting next to him was a young boy about four years old who was copying Sasuke's position and facial expressions.

"Oh, Sasuke-san, don't be upset. In a way, Hokage-sama was right," Hinata said as she bottle fed an infant boy in her arms.

"How, Hinata? Because this," Sasuke motioned to the daycare where they were, "doesn't seem like any type of body-guarding job to me!"

"Doesn't seem type of job!" the young boy next to Sasuke exclaimed.

"Stop it, Harou," Sasuke grumbled.

"Stop it, Hawou," the boy grumbled back. This caused Naruto and Hinata to laugh.

The sound of crying echoed through the daycare and Sasuke grumbled, "Again?!"

"They're babies, Sasuke. They need a lot of attention." Hinata chuckled.

Sasuke groaned and walked towards the room where the sleeping infants were, Harou following him. Two infants, who had been sleeping, were now very fussy. "Hey, Dobe! Get in here and help me!"

Naruto rolled his eyes and walked into the room to help Sasuke. Naruto took an infant girl, while Sasuke took the crying boy. They both felt the diapers and Sasuke groaned when he felt the heavy load that was inside. "I hate kids..."

"You do realize, when you revive your clan, there will be babies. Lots of babies, right?"

Sasuke stared at Naruto in horror. He was right. If he was to revive his clan, he would have to deal with these little monsters for the rest of his life! Sasuke groaned and brought the baby boy to the changing table. Sasuke undid the diaper and grabbed some wipes to clean the boy's bum. He was hit with the horrid smell from the diaper and scrunched his face at it. He saw Harou making the face as well. Sasuke took a deep breath and turned back to the baby. As Sasuke began cleaning the infant, the baby then began to relieve himself onto Sasuke. Sasuke gasped in surprise and backed away from the changing table.

Harou started laughing hysterically at Sasuke being peed on. Naruto turned around from rocking the little girl and had to hold in his laughter so as to not scare the baby. Sasuke looked horrified and angry.

When the little boy was done, Sasuke had a large wet spot on his new shirt that he bought from Iwao's. Sasuke looked like he was about to explode. He quickly cleaned up the baby and put a diaper on him. Sasuke took another step back and took a deep breath. "Naruto...watch the kid," he ground out.

Sasuke marched out to the play area of the daycare center, where he found Hinata. Many of the kids ran away and hid when they saw the angry look on Sasuke's face.

Hinata looked up at Sasuke and blinked. "Sasuke-san? Why the–HEY!" Hinata's wrist was snatched by Sasuke, and she was led to the babies' room. "Sasuke-san! What are you doing?"

Sasuke let go of her wrist when they arrived back in the baby room. "You take care of these brats! I'm going for a walk!" Sasuke growled out. He then marched out of the daycare to take his walk.

Hinata blinked and turned to Naruto. "Did I miss something?"

Naruto nodded and chuckled, still rocking the baby girl. "The baby peed on Sasuke," he said, nodding his head to the baby boy on the changing table.

Hinata covered her mouth and laughed into her hands. "Poor Sasuke-san," she said as she picked up the baby boy. Hinata started to rock the boy to try to get him to sleep, her eyes traveling towards Naruto. She saw him wiggling a finger in front of the girl's face and making silly, but quiet noises. _'Wow...he's so good with her. Naruto-kun would be a wonderful father.'_ Hinata blushed at the thought. She then shook the thought from her head, returning her attention to the little baby in her arms.

When Sasuke came back the toddlers were sleeping peacefully. Naruto and Hinata were sitting against the wall watching the children. Sasuke blinked. "You got them all to sleep?"

"Shhhhh!" Naruto shushed. "It took us forever to get them down," he whispered harshly.

Sasuke walked over and sat next to Naruto. "Sorry. How'd you get them all to take a nap?"

"It wasn't easy," Hinata stated with a tired voice.

They all heard a yawn and three Genin turned towards the yawn with horrified looks. One of the kids was waking up!

It was Harou. He sat up and rubbed his sleepy eyes. He was holding a small teddy bear in his right hand.

"Go back to sleep Harou-kun," Hinata whispered across the room.

Harou blinked tiredly and crawled across the room. He stopped in front of Sasuke and rested his head on Sasuke's thigh. He put his thumb in his mouth and was asleep almost instantaneously.

Sasuke was staring at the toddler in complete shock. "Uuuuuuuuuh..." Sasuke's hands were up, almost like he was caught red-handed for something.

Naruto chuckled. "He seems to like you."

Sasuke still didn't know what to do. He was completely frozen in place.

Hinata giggled. "It's okay Sasuke-san. He isn't going to hurt you."

Sasuke looked at his teammates and slowly placed his hand on Harou's back. Sasuke was completely out of his element with this, but the Uchiha couldn't help but let a small smirk grace his lips.

The Genin heard the daycare center's front door open and saw the owner of the place and Kakashi walk in. Kakashi smiled at his team with his signature "U" eye. "Did you all have fun?" he whispered.

The three Genin glared at their teacher. Kakashi chuckled at his team. "All right, kids. Let's go."

The Genin stood up, Sasuke being careful not to let Harou drop to the floor. They all very quietly tip-toed out of the house, and when the door was shut, all three Genin turned to their Sensei.

"You lied to us." Sasuke frowned. "You said that this was a stepping stone to body-guarding!"

"Ah. Technically...I didn't say that. The Hokage said that," Kakashi corrected. "And remember what the Hokage said. You need to learn about the safety of the client. What better way than babysitting?" he said with a smile. Or what was considered a smile for Kakashi.

"I can think of a few..." Sasuke grumbled.

"Actually, Sasuke-san, Hokage-sama and Kakashi-sensei make a point with the babysitting. Babies and toddlers are at risk with a lot of things within a home," Hinata stated. "There are sharp kitchen utensils and toxic cleaners that, if they're inhaled or ingested, could prove to be very bad for their health."

Naruto smiled. "So that's why there were so many child safety locks on the cupboards."

"Exactly, Naruto. For toddlers, you have to keep your eye on them at all times. Just like a bodyguard would keep an eye on his client," Kakashi explained.

Sasuke and Naruto nodded, signaling they understood. Now, they had to report their successful mission to the Hokage and receive their pay for the day.

When they arrived, Team 8 was standing outside of the Hokage's office.

"Sasuke-kun! I haven't seen you in sooooooo long!" Sakura squealed and glomped Sasuke. When Sasuke ignored her and shrugged her off of him, she huffed. "Oh, Sasuke-kun, I'm so sorry you have to deal with these losers! They probably don't treat you like the strong shinobi you are. But I do," she said, gently touching his shoulder.

Sasuke frowned. "Don't touch me."

Kiba looked at Sasuke and sniffed him. "UGH! What the hell?!"

"What is it, dog breath?!" Sakura frowned.

"Shut up, banshee! And if you must know, your boyfriend over here smells like piss!" Kiba said, plugging his nose.

"KIBA! How dare you talk that way about Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled, then stopped as she was suddenly hit by a sour smell. "Uh..." Sakura slightly gagged. "Ugh...what is that smell?!"

"Heh. Sasuke over here got peed on by one of our clients," Naruto snickered. He then yelped when Sasuke's fist connected with the back of his head.

"How dare they! I should go over to them right now and give them a piece of my mind! How dare they do such a vile thing to my Sasuke-kun!"

"Sakura...our clients were children," Hinata stated bluntly. "A baby had an accident of Sasuke-san," she explained.

"...Oh." Sakura blushed and looked at her feet in embarrassment.

She looked up when she saw Kurenai, her sensei, walk out of the Hokage's office. "Oh, Team Seven, it's good to see you again," Kurenai said with a smile. "Here for more missions?"

"Yup!" Naruto smiled. "We just finished our latest mission of the day."

"Well done. We have one more mission and we shall be finished. Come on, team. Tora isn't going to come quietly."

"AGAIN?!" Kiba groaned. Akamaru yapped next to him, obviously not happy about finding the cat.

"Yes, Kiba. I know. Come on, team. Let's go." She then smiled at Kakashi. "Good luck, Team Seven." Kakashi nodded back to the Jounin in response.

"Yes, Sensei," the Genin said and followed their teacher.

"Bye Sasuke-kun!" Sakura squealed and followed her team.

Sasuke sighed. "I hate my life..."

A Chuunin poked his head out of the Hokage's office, then turned to Kakashi and his team. "Team Seven. You may come in now."

Kakashi nodded and led his team into the ruler's office. "Hokage-sama," he said with a bow. "We're here to report a mission success."

The Hokage smiled. "Well done, Team Seven. You can collect your pay from Iruka," he said, motioning towards said Chuunin. "Alright. Koiji...do you have any more missions for Team Seven?" Hiruzen asked another Chuunin in the room.

The Chuunin, Koiji, ruffled through the papers on the desk and shook his head. "No, Hokage-sama. I mostly have B- and C-Ranked missions. Team 8's mission was the only D-Ranked mission I had left for the day."

The Hokage nodded. "All right. Collect your pay and you're dismissed."

The three Genin bowed and walked to Iruka to receive their salary. Once it was collected the team bowed again and left. Kakashi stopped his team after they had left the Hokage Tower and spoke. "All right, team. Meet tomorrow at the bridge at eight. And don't be late," Kakashi stated before he shushined away.

"Sooooo...ten then?" Naruto suggested.

"At the earliest," Sasuke said with a sigh. "I'm going to train. See you tomorrow," he said with his monotone voice. Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets and walked down the street.

"So Naruto-kun, what do you plan on doing now?" Hinata asked quietly.

Naruto smiled. "I saw Karin yesterday by Ichiraku's, and she said that my special request should be ready by today. So I plan on going to pick it up and pay for it," he explained. He was rather excited to try his new outfit. "Want to come with me?"

Hinata smiled happily. "Of course, Naruto-kun." _'I wouldn't want to do anything else.' _Hinata walked side-by-side with Naruto as they walked to Iwao's.

"So, Hinata-chan, after we pick up my clothes, would you like to grab some lunch?" he smiled happily.

"Of course, Naruto-kun. Are we going to Ichiraku's?" she asked.

"No...I think I want something different today. How about we get some barbecue?" he suggested. Naruto figured Hinata was getting sick or ramen, considering they went there every time they got lunch. So he suggested something different.

Hinata blinked. "You're not in the mood for ramen?" This never happened.

"Nah. Gonna try something different today. Besides," he said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "I figured you'd want to try something different since we always have ramen."

_'He's so considerate.'_ Hinata smiled at Naruto. "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

The two walked at a comfortable pace to Iwao's, happily chatting between themselves. When they finally arrived at Iwao's, they walked in and saw Karin and Ichirou behind the front counter. "Hey, Karin. Hey, Ichirou."

"Naruto! It's good to see you again." Karin smiled. "Your order is ready. We finished it this morning," Karin said happily.

"Uh...no! I finished it this morning!" Iwao called from the sewing room in the back.

Karin rolled her eyes and smiled. "All right. Here you go, Naruto," she said, pulling up a package for the blond.

Naruto smiled and opened it up. Naruto blinked as he stared at the package. "There's...two of them."

Ichirou nodded. "We figured you'd want a replacement in case one of them got destroyed or needed to be repaired."

Naruto smiled. "All right. Thanks, guys." _'I sure hope I can pay for two of them...'_ Naruto took out his orders and smiled. It's just like he pictured it. It was a trench-vest. The front was very much like a vest. No sleeves, a high collar, and it zipped from the waist up. But the back was so much different. The back cascaded down his back to his knees. It was almost like a cape was connected to this vest. And on the back was an orange Konoha Swirl.

"Oh, wow, guys! You included the Konoha swirl. And it's even in orange!" he said excitedly.

"Well Uzumaki-san," Ichirou started, "when you came in last week wearing your orange jumpsuit, I only figured it was your favorite color.

Naruto smiled. "Thank you so much. How do I look Hinata? Does it suit me?"

Hinata stared at Naruto and blushed. "Y-Yes. It looks very good on your Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled. _'I caught that stutter Hinata-chan. It's kind of a cute stutt...Was I really thinking _that?' Naruto blushed at the thought of him thinking Hinata's stutter was cute. "Uhm...how much do I owe you guys?" Naruto said, taking out Gama-chan.

Ichirou rang up Naruto's trench-vests and smiled at him and Hinata. "That will be thirty thousand ryo." Ichirou smiled.

Naruto peeked inside Gama-chan's mouth and inwardly sighed. _'Thank God I got paid for the missions today...I think I still have enough for lunch too!'_ Naruto took out the ryo and handed it to the couple. "Thanks, guys. I really love the trenches." He smiled and grabbed his other jacket, which was still wrapped up.

"No worries, Naruto." Karin smiled. "Enjoy the new duds!" she called to the boy.

Naruto and Hinata waved goodbye and left to get lunch.

As they walked down the street, Naruto received many looks, most of which didn't go unnoticed to Hinata. Some were staring at Naruto in a new light. He didn't look like the moron in orange. He looked like a serious ninja now. Several girls suddenly looked more interested in Naruto. Now that the ridiculous orange jumpsuit was gone, Naruto looked a lot more attractive than he had originally looked. Hinata wasn't too happy at these girls looking at her Naruto. Hinata's cheeks reddened. _'My Naruto...? M-My Naruto...'_ Hinata smiled to herself at the thought of Naruto being hers.

But many of the villagers still looked down upon Naruto. Most sent hateful glares at the boy, others would whisper as he walked by, and a few women hurried their children along or into their homes. Hinata watched this and was confused as to why the villagers would act this way. She saw last week how many of the shopkeepers pushed Naruto out of their stores. She looked at Naruto, who didn't seemed to be fazed by the villagers looks. She saw him smiling like his usual self, and it made her heart swell. _'You're able to walk through this village with such a cheerful smile, Naruto-kun. You'll show these villagers you're a powerful, strong, wonderful person like I know you are.'_ Hinata smiled to herself as they finally entered the Korean barbecue restaurant.

As Naruto and Hinata walked in to take a seat at a table, they saw Team 8 eating lunch. Lucky for them, in Naruto's mind at least, Naruto and Hinata went unnoticed by the team. They sat down and waited for their server to come and take their order.

They only had to wait a few moments before the waiter approached. Once the man saw Naruto, he turned his nose up at him. "What can I get you?" he said with an almost disgusted tone.

Hinata blinked at Naruto, who looked at little disheartened. "Naruto-kun? What would you like?"

Naruto looked up at the waiter, who was glaring at him. "Uhm...some beef please?"

The waiter scoffed to himself and turned to Hinata. "And you?"

"Uhm...some pork please?" She watched the waiter scribble on his paper pad and storm off to the back.

Naruto sighed. "I'm sorry, Hinata-chan. I don't know why they act this way. If I knew I'd make sure they wouldn't treat you badly because of whatever's wrong with me."

"Nothing's wrong with you Naruto-kun." _'You're perfect to me...'_

"Hey, Hinata!"

Naruto and Hinata turned their attention from each other to Kiba, who had called out to Hinata. "Check it out! Pretty much like...the second we got to the outskirts of Konoha, I _totally_ caught Tora single-handedly."

"Nuh-uh, Kiba! That cat was scratching the hell out of your face when you jumped on it!" Sakura yelled. "I had to yank it off your face so he wouldn't claw your eyes out."

Naruto snorted. "Smooth, Kiba."

"What'd you say, Whisker-Face?" Kiba challenged.

"Naruto-kun. Kiba-san. Please. We're in a restaurant," Hinata tried to reason.

"Sorry, Hinata-chan," Naruto said, trying to relax into his seat.

"Why are you guys here anyway, Naruto?" Sakura asked with her arms folded over her chest.

"What does it look like Sakura? We're here for lunch," Naruto said bluntly. Hinata placed a hand over her mouth to keep herself from laughing.

"It is kind of obvious, Sakura," Kiba said with a shrug.

"Can it, Dog Boy!" Sakura screeched. "Where's Sasuke-kun? Is he meeting you here?" she said with a hopeful voice.

"No. Sasuke-san left after we collected our pay for today," Hinata explained.

Sakura shrugged. "Well...I don't blame him. Why would he want to hang out with you losers anyways? I mean...all you'll do is slow him down," the pinkette said nonchalantly.

Naruto let out a loud growl, obviously angry at Sakura's comment. It was one thing to call him a loser, but no one called Hinata a loser. Before Naruto could voice his anger at the rude kunoichi, though, her teammate beat him to it.

"Hinata isn't a loser, Sakura! How could you say that about her?!" Kiba snarled. He then looked at Hinata and gave her a toothy, yet seductive, grin. Though Kiba's seductive grin made him look like someone had lathered some bad-tasting substance along his teeth, and he was making that face to keep from tasting it.

It was completely obvious to not only Naruto and Hinata, but Kiba's own team as well that the canine-like Genin looked completely deranged.

Sakura was the first to speak. "Kiba...shut up. You don't know what you're talking about."

Then Naruto spoke. "No, Sakura. You don't know what you're talking about. While I appreciate Kiba defending my teammate," Naruto ground out, "I don't appreciate you, Sakura, treating my friend like that." He was fine with Kiba defending her, but he didn't like Kiba's constant gaze upon his teammate.

Hinata looked at Naruto and smiled, her cheeks turning a slight pink. "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

"Hey! What about me?! I defended you against this banshee too!" Kiba retorted.

"What do you mean 'banshee'?!" Sakura yelled.

Naruto sighed. _'And here I thought Hinata-chan and I could have a peaceful and enjoyable lunch...'_ He turned to Hinata with apologetic eyes. She looked back at him with understanding.

"Sakura. Kiba. Perhaps we should depart," Kurenai suggested as she approached her students. "We should let Naruto and Hinata enjoy their lunch."

Kiba and Sakura wanted to rebel, but it was Shino who spoke. "Let us leave. You have already caused an unwanted commotion within the restaurant."

Kiba and Sakura looked around and saw many of the costumers looking annoyed at the two loud Genin. Kiba and Sakura then quickly left the restaurant to avoid the annoyed costumers. Shino sighed. "My apologies," he stated quietly and followed his louder teammates out of the restaurant.

Kurenai approached Naruto and Hinata and gave them an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about them, you two. I don't know why they act like that sometimes."

Naruto and Hinata smiled at the crimson-eyed Jounin. "It's okay, Kurenai-sensei. Some people just can't control their tongues," Hinata said with a nod. Naruto agreed with a nod.

"Thank you for understanding. Enjoy your date," Kurenai said with a smile.

Hinata blushed at the word "date." She couldn't help but like the sound of her and Naruto on a date. Naruto, who was also red, didn't have the same reaction as Hinata. "W-We're not on a date!"

Kurenai blinked at Naruto. She noticed Hinata looking a little upset. "You're not? I'm sorry. I just assumed you were on a date."

"Hinata and I are just friends! That's all!" Naruto exclaimed. It went completely unnoticed to Naruto that Hinata looked like she was close to tears.

Kurenai noticed that and sighed. She gently touched Hinata's shoulder and smiled. "I see. Well...I better be off. I need to tell my team where we'll be meeting." She gently squeezed Hinata's shoulder and left.

Naruto watched Kurenai leave, then turned to Hinata with a smile. "Weird how she thought we were on a date, huh?"

Hinata stared at the barbecue table with a slight nod. "Y-Yeah...weird..."

Naruto blinked. "Hinata-chan? Are you okay?" Hinata tried to say something, but she couldn't. She got up and started to walk away. "Hinata-chan! Where are you going? We haven't even got our food yet."

She didn't look back at him. "I'm not hungry anymore, Naruto-kun," she said softly as she left the restaurant.

Naruto blinked. "What'd I do?" he said to himself. He was about to follow Hinata when the waiter came up and practically dropped the meat on the table.

"Here."

Naruto rolled his eyes and got up to leave, but the waiter stopped him.

"I don't think so. You ordered this food and you're going to pay for it." The waiter growled.

"Pfft. Yeah, right. Why would I pay for crap service and rotten food?" Naruto scoffed. He could smell the age of the meat. He noticed that the waiter was shocked that he had found out that the food was spoiled. Naruto shook his head and followed Hinata out.

"Hinata-chan! Hinata-chan!" Naruto called, trying to catch up to Hinata, who seemed to be disappearing within the crowd of people. Naruto sped up, still calling Hinata's name. But he noticed that he wasn't getting any closer. Then it hit him. She was running from him.

"Hinata-chan! Wait! Please!" Naruto then took off into a run to get to Hinata.

The chase lasted several minutes as Hinata tried to run away from Naruto back to her home, where she knew he wasn't allowed. Naruto realized where she was going and frowned. "Hinata-chan! Stop!" he yelled. He was steps behind her. He reached out and managed to grab her wrist, which caused her to come to a stop. "Finally..." he said, out of breath. "Why did you run from me?"

Hinata didn't answer. Her shoulders slightly shook, an obvious sign she was crying. Naruto noticed this and slowly stepped in front of her. "Hinata-chan...what's wrong? If it's something I did...please tell me what I did, so I won't ever do it again."

Hinata took a deep breath and wiped her tears away. "It...it wasn't what you did...but what you said..."

Naruto blinked. "What'd I say?"

Hinata looked up at Naruto in shock. Was he serious?! Did he really not know what he said that upset her?! "You...don't remember what you said?" she replied, almost angry at the blond.

"I don't. I'm sorry," he said sadly, obviously upset that he had forgotten what he said that hurt Hinata.

Hinata took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled to calm herself. "You stated we weren't on a date."

Naruto blinked. "But we weren't..." Now he was confused.

"That...may be, Naruto-kun," Hinata said sadly. "But...the way you shouted that we weren't on a date to Kurenai-sensei, and for all the rest of the restaurant to hear, it upset me."

Naruto nodded. "Hinata...don't be upset with me please. I feel really bad for shouting that and embarrassing you."

"I wasn't just embarrassed Naruto-kun. I was hurt," she tried to explain.

Naruto ran a hand through his spiky hair. "Uhm...why were you hurt by me saying that?"

Hinata blinked. "You...really don't know?"

Naruto sighed. "Not really. I mean...I'm so sorry I upset you. But I've had to grow up without a lot of human contact or learning the proper ways of society. Or...society in general, really. I guess...you could say I'm naïve in a lot of ways," he said with a nod. "One of them being the ways of women," he added with a nervous chuckle.

Hinata stared at Naruto in disbelief. Although...she shouldn't have been that shocked at what she heard. Hinata sighed and stared at Naruto. "The reason I was upset, Naruto-kun...was because when you yelled out we weren't on a date, it made me feel like I'm not dating material. Like...you were disgusted with the thought of having a date with me."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Oh, my God, Hinata-chan...I so didn't mean it that way! Any guy would be as lucky as cheese to have you!"

Hinata blinked. "Lucky as...cheese?" she asked with complete confusion.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Yeah...cheese," he chuckled. "But seriously. Anyone would be lucky to be with you Hinata-chan."

Hinata smiled. "Thank you, Naruto-kun. I'm sorry I got so angry. It was childish of me."

Naruto smiled back. "Don't be sorry, Hinata-chan. I'd be angry, too, if I were you. I know our lunch was ruined by my stupidity. Maybe we can have a rain check?"

Hinata giggled and nodded. "Of course, Naruto-kun."

"Want me to walk you home, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked a little sheepishly.

Hinata blushed and smiled at her crush. "I'd like that a lot, Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled at his friend and turned, walking Hinata to her compound. It didn't take the couple long to reach the Hyuuga compound, considering Hinata had been running towards it. When they arrived, Naruto turned to Hinata and apologized again for his stupidity.

"Naruto-kun...it's in the past now. Let's let it stay there," Hinata said, gently touching his arm.

Naruto smiled at the blunette. "Thanks, Hinata-chan. I'll see you tomorrow." Naruto then walked away to return to town.

Hinata watched her crush leave with a soft sigh. _'I wish I could tell you how I feel, Naruto-kun...'_

Unbeknownst to the Hyuuga Heiress, cold Hyuuga eyes watched the scene with disgust. _'How dare she continue to associate with that...boy. Her judgment as heiress appears to be lacking. Perhaps a few lessons should be in order.' _Hyuuga Hiashi slowly retreated back into his home.

.

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.

Naruto walked back into town, hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. His lunch had been ruined because of his stupidity–and because he was served rotten food–so he decided to go grab some Ichiraku. As he walked towards his favorite hole-in-the-wall, he noticed a very bad disguise. Naruto blinked as he stared at a boxy-looking bush next to a fence. Naruto slowly approached and gently kicked the "hedge." Naruto heard a little crunching of the leaves, but a majority of the sound was hollow. Just as he suspected...a crappy disguise. Naruto knelt down and lifted the "hedge" and revealed a young boy.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" the boy yelled. The boy grabbed the edge of his disguise back and covered himself back up.

Naruto blinked, then pushed the whole "hedge" off the boy. "What are you hiding from?"

"Why do you care?" the boy said, going to grab his disguise.

"I've seen you before. Now where have I seen you before...?" Naruto said to himself. "I KNOW! You're the kid that the Old Man has a picture of on his desk!"

"Well, he should!" the boy said. "I'm Konohamaru, grandson of the Third Hokage!" he boasted proudly.

"Honorable Grandson! Honorable Grandson!" came a worried voice.

"Aw, man! Thanks a lot, Blondie! Now I got caught!" Konohamaru frowned.

The man came forward and grabbed Konohamaru's arm. "Honorable Grandson! You can't be running around out here! You have things to do! Lessons you must learn! Come. You are already late."

"Noooo! I don't want to!" Konohamaru whined as he struggled to free himself from the man.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled. "What are you doing?! Who do you think you are?" Naruto rushed towards the man, freeing Konohamaru from the older man's grasp.

"I am Ebisu, Jonin of Konoha and the Honorable Grandson's tutor," Ebisu said with a frown. "What business do you have with the Honorable Grandson?" the Jounin asked with a frown.

"Well..." Naruto started before he looked down at Konohamaru. He noticed the boy looked upset about having to go back to his studies. "I offered to buy him lunch for managing to outsmart a Jounin." Naruto grinned down at the boy. "After lunch, I'll bring him back for his lessons."

Konohamaru and Ebisu stared at Naruto in shock. Then Konohamaru turned to Ebisu with pleading eyes. "Pleeeeeaaaaase, Ebisu-sensei?! I really want to have lunch with...him!" Konohamaru had realized mid-sentence that he still hadn't learned the blond's name.

The Jounin stared at Naruto, then at the pleading Konohamaru. Ebisu sighed deeply, then adjusted his dark glasses. "Fine. You have one hour, Honorable Grandson. If you are not back by then, I will personally come and find you."

"Thank you, Ebisu-sensei! Come on! Let's go!" Konohamaru yelled.

Naruto chuckled and walked with the boy.

Once they were far enough away, Konohamaru looked up at Naruto. "Uhm...did you really mean that you were gonna buy me lunch?"

Naruto nodded. "Sure. I mean, I did say I was gonna buy you some in front of Ebisu. Besides...you seem like a cool kid. Why not?" he said with his signature toothy grin.

Konohamaru blinked. "Thank you. Uhm...what's your name?"

"It's Naruto." The blond said happily. "You like ramen?" Naruto asked.

"If it's Ichiraku's ramen!" Konohamaru smiled. "My grandpa brought me there a couple months ago, and it's soooooo good!"

Naruto chuckled. "It seems we have a lot in common then. Ichiraku's is my favorite place to eat!" Naruto looked ahead and saw the desired restaurant. "There it is. Go ahead and order a bowl of whatever you want."

Konohamaru rushed up to the booth and quickly took his seat. Naruto approached and smiled at Teuchi. "Hey, Old Man!"

"Naruto! Good to see you. Are you with the Honorable Grandson?" Teuchi asked.

"Yup! I'm treating him to lunch." Naruto said with a nod.

"Wonderful! What do you guys want?"

"I'll have pork miso ramen." Naruto beamed.

"And for you, Honorable Grandson?" Teuchi asked.

"Oh...uh...what Naruto's having," Konohamaru said quietly. Teuchi nodded, wrote down the orders, and went to the kitchen.

Naruto stared at Konohamaru, who seemed to look rather...upset. "Hey...you okay Konohamaru?"

Konohamaru stayed silent for several moments before he spoke. "I'm tired of everyone seeing me as the 'Honorable Grandson'. I'm not just the Hokage's grandkid. I'm Sarutobi Konohamaru! Future Hokage of Konohagakure!" The young boy exclaimed.

Naruto laughed. Konohamaru glared. "What's so funny?!"

"Nothing!" Naruto said, regaining his composure. "So you want to be Hokage, huh? Well...you better get in line. Because I'm going to be Hokage, too."

Konohamaru blinked. "Really? Why?"

"Well...part of the reason was I wanted to be recognized. I wanted them to stop disrespecting me and treat me like I'm somebody. But it's kind of selfish for me to think like that. I mean...being a Hokage isn't all about respect, right? It's about protecting the people you love and treasure, no matter what the cost. Don't you think that's a better reason to become Hokage?"

Konohamaru stared at Naruto in shock. Naruto wanted the respect like he did, but Naruto had seemed to really think about the real reason to be Hokage. Konohamaru looked up at the blond next to him and smiled. "Yeah...it is." The boy's smile grew larger when Teuchi came out of the kitchen with two bowls of pork miso ramen.

After eating and idly chit-chatting, Naruto had taken Konohamaru back to Ebisu, who was waiting at the Hokage Tower. "Here he is, Ebisu. Right on time, too."

Ebisu cleared his throat. "So it seems. Come, Honorable Grandson."

Konohamaru sighed as his title, then turned back to Naruto. "Bye, Nii-san!"

Naruto blinked, then gave Konohamaru a bright smile. "See ya later, Konohamaru!"

Konohamaru didn't admit it aloud, but Naruto had inspired him to become a great ninja so he could be a great Hokage one day.

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Weeks of D-missions turned into months of D-missions, and Team Seven in particular was getting annoyed with all the missions they were receiving. Once again, Team Seven was in the Hokage's office to receive their next mission, looking bored beyond belief.

"Well...let's see..." Iruka started. "Oh, here we go. There's a restaurant in town that needs its kitchen deep cleaned before opening tonight."

"NO!" Naruto frowned. "I'm sick of doing chores for villagers that are too damn lazy to do it themselves!"

"Naruto! How dare you?!" Iruka scolded. "You can't say things like that! It's disrespectful!"

"But seriously, Iruka-sensei! Yesterday we had to 'give a fish a bath'!" he growled with quotations. "Seriously?! This guy wanted us to frigging clean his tiny fish bowl that he was too frigging lazy to clean himself!"

Hinata agreed with Naruto. "Forgive me, Iruka-sensei, Hokage-sama, but I agree with Naruto-kun. Some of these D-missions are rather...absurd," she said with a slight blush. "That man grew rather angry when we missed one small spot on his goldfish's bowl."

Sasuke spoke next. "Some of these missions are pretty unreasonable," Sasuke said with a shrug. Truth was, he really did want a more challenging mission.

"Do you all feel this way?" Hiruzen asked. Team Seven nodded.

"If I may speak, Hokage-sama," Kakashi started. When he saw the old man nod, he continued, "My team has done just over the minimum requirements for a C-Rank mission, so...on the behalf of my team, I request a C-Rank mission."

The three Genin looked up at Kakashi with wide smiles. They could finally show what they were made of. They had been training really hard in between missions, and they wanted to show how much they'd improved.

"Do you three agree to this?" Hiruzen chuckled when he saw the Genin nod their heads rather quickly. "All right." Hiruzen began to rummage through some papers on his desk, before settling on one. "Here we go. I believe you have experience in body-guarding, do you not?" The old Hokage smirked. He could see Naruto and Sasuke glaring at him, and Hinata trying to keep a frown from appearing on her face. Hiruzen chuckled at the Genin. "Well, children, I believe it's time to see how much experience you've received. This mission is an escort mission. You will escort your client from Konohagakure to Nami no Kuni," Hiruzen explained.

"Will we encounter any enemy shinobi?" Hinata politely asked.

"I do not believe so, Hinata. If you run into trouble, it should be no more than your average bandit," The Hokage said with a nod. "Now...for you to meet your client. You may come in now," Hiruzen called out.

When the door opened, Team Seven turned around to see a gray-haired man step in. The man was wearing a dark, sleeveless, V-neck shirt with an obi tied around his waist, dark pants and sandals. He also had a white towel around his neck and a bottle in his hand. "These brats are going to be protecting me? Is this a joke? They look like they can't even tie their own shoes, much less protect me. Especially that midget blond one!" the man slurred.

Naruto's eyes widened. "M-Midget...? I AM NOT A MIDGET YOU DRUNK! I am Uzumaki Naruto! Future Hokage of Konohagakure!"

The man scoffed. "Hokage? Pfft! Yeah, right! No village would want a short brat as their leader," he said, wiping his mouth.

Naruto growled and went to attack the older man, but Hinata held him back. "Naruto-kun...don't. He's just a drunken man who doesn't know what he's saying."

Naruto frowned and took a deep breath to calm himself. "Okay...thanks, Hinata-chan."

Hiruzen then spoke. "This is Tazuna. He will be your client for this mission. You will need to escort and protect him on the journey to his home. Are there any questions?"

"Can I have a different team?" Tazuna asked.

"No," Hiruzen said bluntly. "Anyone else?"

"How long will we be traveling? I want to be able to pack appropriately," Sasuke said without much emotion in his voice.

"Good question, Sasuke. It depends on how good time you make traveling to and from Nami no Kumi. My guess is...three to five days. So pack reserves and extra clothes just in case you take longer." The three Genin nodded at their Hokage's words.

"Good. You're dismissed." Hiruzen then handed Kakashi the mission scroll before the team left the office.

Kakashi walked out with his team and Tazuna. Once they were outside of the Hokage Tower, he stopped the other four. "All right, team. Go get packed and ready for this mission. While it is a simple escort mission, be prepared for the worst." He then turned to Tazuna. "It's just a little after noon, and my team needs to prepare for this mission. And I'm sure you still need to ready yourself for the travel home." Then he turned to face all four people. "Let's meet at the front gate tomorrow at eight am, sharp."

The quartet nodded at the Jounin. "Don't be late, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto teased. Kakashi merely shot Naruto a mischievous look. Naruto laughed, Hinata quickly joining in. Although Sasuke didn't laugh, a smirk did grace his lips.

Tazuna watched the Jounin shushin away in a swirl of leaves. He then turned to the Genin and scoffed. "I can't believe they'd give me a team of frigging toddlers. I'm gonna die for sure..." the man grumbled as he started to walk away.

.

Naruto growled, his fists shaking at his sides "Man...that guy's a jerk..."

"Just ignore him, Naruto-kun. He doesn't deserve your attention," Hinata said with a nod.

"Thanks Hinata-chan." He then looked at both his teammates with a smile. "Lunch anyone?"

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After lunch, Team Seven went about buying extra weapons, rations, and extra first-aid supplies. It was their first time outside of the gates for a mission, and they all wanted to be prepared. After buying all of their supplies, they returned to their respective homes to pack and prepare for the mission ahead.

Naruto had arrived home at dusk and instantly began to pack. He packed four pairs of pants, six shirts, an extra pair of sandals, and his spare trench-vest. He packed additional kunai and shuriken sets, in case of danger, and some instant ramen cups for the road.

After he was done, he flopped on the bed and let out a sigh. "Our first real mission...we're totally going to kick butt tomorrow..." he said quietly as he slowly drifted off.

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The morning of the mission, Hinata was up bright and early, so she could eat a filling breakfast before departing on her mission. Hinata was currently in her room, making her bed. After she was done, she opened her closet to grab some clothes. She looked at the wardrobe she had hanging up, and locked onto one specific outfit. The ones she purchased from Iwao's shop. She took one off its hanger and looked at it closely. _'Well...it's our first real mission. It deserves a new outfit.' _ Hinata shed her pajamas and folded them up neatly and placed them on the end of her bed. Hinata changed out of her underwear and into new ones. She also bound her growing chest for travel and possible battle. She then slipped on some black spandex shorts before putting on her new ninja dress. She smiled as the cream dress hugged her body in all the right ways. She tied the violet sash securely around her waist and finally placed her ninja sandals on, completing the look. She smiled at her appearance in her mirror. She grabbed several extra dresses and sashes that she had purchased from Iwao's and placed them in her bag. She then smiled to herself and let out a soft sigh. _'I'm ready.'_

She lifted her pack over her shoulder and approached the kitchen, where she would make her breakfast before leaving. Once she approached the kitchen, she was hit with a multitude of smells. She peeked her head in and saw the chefs smiling at her. "Good morning, Hinata-sama. We heard from Hanabi-sama that you had a special day. We made one of your favorites: a mushroom and bell pepper omelet."

Hinata smiled brightly and happily accepted her omelet. She ate to the sound of the chefs cooking her father's and the other Main House members' breakfasts. Once she was finished, she happily thanked the cooks and made her way to the front entrance of the Hyuuga Compound. She knew Hanabi would probably be waiting to say goodbye to her. As she approached the entrance, she saw that Hanabi wasn't alone. Her father was there with her.

Hinata inwardly groaned. She approached and bowed to her father. "I'm leaving Otou-sama."

"I can see that, Hinata. But...what are you wearing?" Hiashi said in disgust. The clothing was indecent for a Hyuuga heiress.

"I bought them, Otou-sama. They are practical clothing for a kunoichi and they give me ample flexibility," Hinata explained.

Hiashi frowned, nearly turning his nose up at his daughter's new attire. "Hmph. Why do you need a travel pack? Surely you are not traveling outside of the village so soon?"

"We are. Kakashi-sensei requested a high rank mission for our team. Hokage-sama granted his request. Today we are setting out," she explained. "Excuse me, Otou-sama...but I must depart. I fear I will be late."

Hiashi frowned, but nodded. "Indeed. Do not slow them down." He then turned from his daughters to return to the house.

Hinata sighed. She wished her father could at least wish her safety on the journey. _'It's not like it would kill him...'_

"Be safe, Nee-chan," Hanabi said with a smile. She then quickly wrapped her arms around her sister's waist. "I'll miss you."

Hinata smiled and hugged her sister back. "I'll miss you, too, Hanabi. And thank you." After a few moments, the sisters let go of each other.

"By the way, Nee-chan...Otou-sama doesn't have any fashion sense. I like your new outfit," she giggled.

Hinata giggled as well. "Thank you again, Hanabi. I'll be back in about two weeks." She ruffled Hanabi's hair, then ran towards the front gates of Konoha.

Once Hinata was there, she saw her team waiting patiently by the gates. Kakashi was actually on time, which also shocked her two male teammates. The only person missing was the bridge-builder, Tazuna. They waited well past the supposed meeting time before Tazuna finally arrived.

He approached team Seven with a nonchalant attitude. "All right, you wimps. Let's go." He let out a belch before he began to leave the village.

"Wait a minute, you drunk old fart!" Naruto yelled. "Where the hell have you been?!"

"I was at the bar grabbing one last drink," he said with a bored tone before continuing down his path.

The Genin looked up at Kakashi, who looked slightly annoyed. While Kakashi tended to be tardy from losing track of time at the Memorial Stone, Tazuna was intentionally late. That was something that annoyed Kakashi: purposely making people wait longer than they should.

Kakashi sighed and shook his head, signaling his team to ignore Tazuna's attitude.

The team grumbled but followed Tazuna.

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The first night of the supposed three-day journey was uneventful. Quiet and easy. The second night was the same. Quiet and easy. On the third day, the group was getting restless. While there had been no attacks the first two days, Team Seven was a little anxious. Naruto, for some reason, felt like something bad was going to happen.

As they continued their journey, Tazuna was becoming far more rowdy. Constantly babbling on about how his building skills were going to bring economic stability to the village. Kakashi himself wasn't too invested in Tazuna's rambling, but something did catch his eye: a small puddle along the path. Kakashi quietly disregarded the puddle and continued on.

The puddle rippled slightly before claws shot up and wrapped around the Jounin. Team Seven and Tazuna turned to the Jounin, only to watch Kakashi be torn into shreds.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled. Hinata and Sasuke looked shocked to see their sensei murdered in front of him. Naruto frowned at the puddle. He made a quick hand-sign before preparing himself.

The group watched as two men appeared out of the small puddle. The two men had long, shaggy, black hair and Kirigakure hitai-ate's with horns.

"Wh...Who are you?!" Hinata ordered.

"Heheheh...look, Brother. The young kunoichi is questioning us," one stated.

"Rather amusing. If you must know, little kunoichi, we are the Demon Brothers: Meizu and Gozu," Meizu stated with a dark chuckle. "Now that you know our names, we'll have to kill you."

Naruto frowned. "Hinata-chan! Make sure Tazuna is protected. Sasuke, you and me will be taking these brothers down."

Sasuke nodded at the blond, and the team took their positions. Naruto and Sasuke stared down the brothers for several moments before attacking. Naruto and Sasuke attacked the brothers with synchronized combinations. While the brothers were able to easily counter their attacks, they were finding it difficult to attack. As Sasuke and Naruto continued their attacks, another Naruto came up from beside the demon brothers and kicked Gozu, causing him to crash into his brother.

"Quick thinking, Naruto," Sasuke complimented.

"Thanks. Get ready. They're coming again." Naruto frowned again, taking his Dragon Style stance.

Meizu and Gozu growled at the Genin. They then ran toward the boys, but, to the Genin's surprise, the brothers leapt over them. They then rushed Hinata, who was standing in front of Tazuna with her Byakugan activated. Hinata then quickly took her Juuken stance, ready to fight. She gasped when she saw the demon brothers shoot their chained claws at her. She then refocused herself and struck two of the claws precisely, causing them to veer off into a different direction. She turned back to the other two claws. Realizing she wouldn't have time to deflect them, she braced herself for the impact.

But it never came. Hinata saw the claws were lodged into the ground by two kunai. The quartet, along with the Demon brother's stared in shock. "Where'd that come from?!" Gozu shouted.

"Here," came a very familiar voice. Gozu and Meizu felt the impact of a swift but hard kick to the face. Kakashi had jumped down from a branch above and his feet happily landed on their faces. Kakashi frowned at the unconscious Kiri Chuunin. He then quickly tied them to a large tree, breaking their chained claws and taking all of their weapons.

"Kakashi-sensei! You're alive!" Naruto shouted happily.

"Yes, I am, Naruto," Kakashi said with a slight chuckle.

Sasuke sighed. "Dobe. He was alive the whole time. He merely used a clone to substitute himself."

Hinata blinked after she deactivated her Byakugan. "But why didn't you intervene sooner, Kakashi-sensei?"

"You three were doing wonderful. I didn't want to interrupt," he chuckled. But his chuckle quickly faded, and a dark look came through in his visible eye. He turned to Tazuna, who looked rather scared. "Now...tell us why they attacked."

**End Chapter**

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**Thank you 8D**

**~Lu Lu-Chan25**


	8. The Demon of the Mist

**Heeeeeeey Everyone! Sorry I've been so late in posting this chapter. I've seriously been so insanely busy, it's not even funny. I now work two jobs, I'm a full time student, and I have an insane amount of homework. But don't worry! I will be able to post chapters sooner! I hope. Anyways! Enjoy this chapter! Don't forget to review!**

**I'd like to thank my Beta: hinatasgreatestfan**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto what so ever.**

**Chapter 8**

"It's about fricken time, Old Man! I mean, seriously? Sneaking into your own hometown? Who the hell does that?!" Naruto screamed at the bridge builder.

They had gone through Hell and back just to get into Nami no Kuni. They had to pay a ferryman a fairly hefty sum to escort them into Nami no Kuni territory. After that, there were some of "Gato's Goons," as Tazuna liked to call them, that everyone had to avoid. Sasuke had suggested they just kill them, but Kakashi brought Sasuke back to reality. Killing three of Gato's men would seem _very_ suspicious, especially when the people of Nami no Kuni were deathly afraid of Gato and his power over them. Then they had to make it to Tazuna's house without being seen by any of Gato's men. It was blatantly obvious that they were outsiders. It seemed they were gray in a sea of black and white.

Now that they were finally at Tazuna's house, they could all let out a sigh of relief. They were out of immediate danger...for now. Tazuna opened the door to his home and announced himself. "Tsunami! Inari! I'm back!"

Footsteps could be heard coming from the back of the house. They were getting closer and closer until a woman with long, raven hair appeared. "Otou-san!" Tsunami cried. "Oh, I'm so glad you're home." Tsunami then rushed forward and hugged her father. "Are you hurt? Did anything happen on your trip home?"

"You bet there was! Because of your old man, we were-Mphmmmph!" Naruto was cut off by Kakashi's hand over his mouth.

"We ran into a little trouble on the way here, Miss, but nothing too difficult for us to handle," Kakashi said with a nod. He then bent down to Naruto's ear. "Say another word, and I'll make you run laps around this place until we go home."

Naruto swallowed hard and instantly quieted himself. Kakashi cleared his throat before speaking again. "I think it would be a good idea if we let your father rest from the journey. My team and I are going to canvas your village and see if there are any threats other than Gato and his men lurking about."

"You're here to protect Jii-san from Gato?" Came a soft, but emotionless voice.

"You bet, kid! We're going to make sure your Jii-san can finish that bridge without Gato getting in the way!" Naruto said with a thumbs up and his signature grin.

"Give up."

Naruto's grin faded, and his look of confidence turned to one of confusion. "...What?"

"Give up. Gato's too strong. No one can defeat him," the young boy stated. He was about eight years old. A boy his age should be filled with hope, and some vigor. But this boy was like the walking dead. No emotion in his voice or face. "Just go back to where you came from. It's better for everyone that way," he said, walking up the stairs towards his room.

"Why that little brat! Come back here, kid! Let me tell you a thing or–" Naruto stopped yelling at the boy when he felt a hand his shoulder. He turned around and saw Tazuna shake his head. "What?"

"You have to forgive my grandson. He's been through a lot in his young life," Tazuna said solemnly.

Naruto blinked. Everyone seemed intrigued about this boy and his history.

Tsunami spoke next. "You have to understand...Inari was such a happy and hopeful boy. He was always going on about how he was going to help get rid of Gato and his men, and how Nami no Kuni would be able to prosper. That is...until his father died."

Everyone on Team Seven seemed to hold their breath. They all knew what it was like to not have a family, or to have lost family members. Tsunami continued her story. "When Inari was born, Gato had not yet taken over Nami no Kuni. When he was a year old, Gato had taken over this land, and his biological father died a year later. Some months later, I met his step-father Kaiza. Kaiza took the father role very seriously. Inari _was _his son. When Inari was old enough to realize the depressing atmosphere and the evil in the city, he and Kaiza began planning and talking about how things would be if Gato was gone," Tsunami explained. "They were like two peas in a pod."

Hinata felt her heart swell for the young boy. "Then what happened...?"

Tsunami took a deep breath, trying to keep her emotions in check. "Kaiza and a group of rebels were captured during a raid on some of Gato's warehouses. The rebels were killed off one by one until only Kaiza remained. Gato said that if Kaiza swore allegiance to him, he would remain alive. Kaiza spat in his face and kept a brave front. But Gato would have none of it. He was showing the rest of us what would happen if we betrayed him. Inari watched his father be mercilessly murdered in front of the whole village. It left Inari heartbroken and dead inside. He's not the same little rebellious boy I once knew."

Naruto stood up with a scowl on his face. He turned and headed out the door. "Naruto-kun? Where are you going?" When Hinata didn't get her answer, she stood up and raced after Naruto.

Tazuna was the first to speak. "What just happened?"

"Don't fret about Naruto. Sasuke," Kakashi began, turning to the Uchiha, "follow them. After Naruto has calmed down, walk around town together and gather as much information as you can. I'm going to stay here and go over some training and guarding schedules."

Sasuke nodded and went to follow Naruto and Hinata.

Tazuna and Tsunami looked confused. Kakashi turned towards them and spoke. "Naruto's been through a lot in his life as well. Naruto doesn't take too well to people like Gato."

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Naruto had reached the heart of Nami no Kuni when Hinata had reached him. "Naruto-kun! Please wait!" Naruto stopped and turned to Hinata, his face remained emotionless. "Naruto-kun...why did you leave like that?"

Naruto sighed. "I hate people like him. What he's doing to these people is more than just wrong. It's inhumane..."

Hinata saw the pain in Naruto's eyes, and she felt a small twinge of pain as well. "I know, Naruto-kun. I don't like it either, but once the bridge is built, help can come to these people."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Hinata-chan."

Hinata blushed and nodded. "You're welcome, Naruto-kun." Hinata thought about hugging Naruto – in a comforting manner, of course. She chickened out when she heard her and Naruto's names being called.

The two Genin turned around and saw Sasuke walking towards them. "Guys, Kakashi wants us to walk around town and gather information," he said, putting his hands in his pockets.

Naruto frowned. "What information? Look around you, Sasuke. How much more information do you need to see that these people need help?!"

Sasuke sighed. "It's obvious they need help, Naruto. I can clearly see that. I mean, let's see what other information we can get from some of the villagers. There could still be a rebel group underground. If there is, perhaps we can talk to them and give them our support against Gato."

Naruto stared at Sasuke dumbfounded. "That's...a good idea."

Sasuke frowned. "Do you think I'm incompetent, Dobe?" he said with a raised eyebrow.

"No...I just...never mind," the blond said in frustration. "Come on. Let's start asking around."

Unbeknownst to the young Genin, hidden dark brown eyes watched them go to protect this village. _'I don't understand. Why would they protect people that are not precious to them? Why do they risk their lives for people who aren't their own? Perhaps I should follow and continue to observe them...'_ The brown-eyed follower slowly rose and followed Team Seven through the village.

.

.

.

After several hours in the village, the Genin returned to Tazuna's home. They looked very depressed as they walked through the door. Tsunami was the first to greet them. "Welcome home, kids. Is everything okay?"

"No...it's not," Sasuke said with a frown. He looked more angry than depressed.

"What...happened?" Tsunami hesitantly asked.

"Gato's going down," Naruto said with a growl as he and Sasuke went upstairs to find Kakashi.

"Are they going to be okay?" Tsunami asked Hinata.

Hinata sighed and looked at Tsunami. "We saw the work of Gato's men while we were out. They nearly killed a child because her mother was accused of being in a rebel group." Hinata heard Tsunami gasp. "Naruto-kun and Sasuke stepped in before he could bring any harm to the child."

Tsunami slowly let out her breath. "Thank goodness."

Hinata frowned. "You and your people have suffered for too long. We will do whatever it takes to make your country free from Gato and his men."

Tsunami felt her eyes tear up and she approached Hinata and hugged her. "You children are so young...yet so brave. You and your teammates will grow up to be such strong individuals." Tsunami pulled away and wiped her tears. "Come on, Hinata-chan. Why don't you help me make dinner? It'll take your mind off things."

Hinata smiled, grateful for the woman's offer. She then quietly followed Tsunami into the kitchen.

Naruto and Sasuke walked into their bedroom, where they found Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei. Can we start training now?" Naruto said eagerly.

Kakashi looked away from his erotica book and saw how serious Naruto and Sasuke were. "All right. After dinner, we'll start your training. Now...rest. You'll want some down time before we start training."

Naruto and Sasuke nodded. They walked downstairs and saw Hinata and Tsunami working in the kitchen. "You're gonna cook, Hinata?" Sasuke said with a raised eyebrow. He didn't understand why she was helping. They were guests. They didn't have to do work.

Hinata nodded. "Yes. They're housing us out of the kindness of their hearts. The least I can do is help with the cooking."

Naruto was instantly salivating. "Hinata-chan's cooking is sooooooo good," he said happily. "I'll be back for dinner. I'm going to do some training," he added with a nod. "I want to make sure I can get as much in as I can to be ready for Gato." That said, he ran back out the door.

Sasuke frowned. "I won't let you get stronger than me, Dobe!" Sasuke hollered before he took off after Naruto.

Tsunami blinked. "Are they always like this?" the woman asked, slowly stirring the curry she was making.

Hinata chuckled. "Naruto-kun is always ambitious to become stronger. Especially when something is very important to him. As for Sasuke...he's Naruto-kun's rival. He wants to be stronger than Naruto-kun at all times, but I think there's more to his training now," she said, measuring the rice before pouring it into the boiling water.

"What do you mean?" Tsunami asked curiously.

"Sasuke went through a very traumatic experience as a child...and he's still going through it in a way," Hinata said. "He wants to get stronger so everything that's happened to him can be made right. That's what I think anyways."

Tsunami smiled. "You seem to like Naruto...don't you?"

Hinata's face turned a bright red as she stirred the rice. "...I do. He's strong, caring, and he'd risk his life for those he loves. I want to be as strong as he is." Hinata smiled shyly.

"He's not strong enough."

Hinata and Tsunami turned towards the voice. "Inari...don't say things like that."

"It's true. No matter how strong your boyfriend is...he's not strong enough to face Gato," Inari said in a solemn voice. "No one is."

Hinata frowned. She didn't like it when Naruto was disrespected that way. "Naruto-kun is strong. The strongest out of all the Genin. Naruto-kun will be able to defeat Gato and free you guys," Hinata said with a warm smile.

Inari scoffed. "You don't know anything." Inari frowned and walked back upstairs.

Tsunami sighed. "Don't let Inari upset you. I think he needs to see _how_ you'll help before he realizes you _will_ help us."

Hinata nodded. "Don't worry, Tsunami-san. We will."

.

.

.

An hour later, Naruto and Sasuke came back covered in dirt and bruises. Hinata was setting the table when the boys walked in. As soon as she saw them, she gasped. "What did you two do? Why do you have bruises all over you?" Hinata placed the plates down and rushed over to her teammates.

Naruto chuckled. "It's okay, Hinata-chan. Sasuke and I decided to have a spar and it got kinda out of hand."

"If by 'out of hand' you mean you sicked your damn shadow clones on me and then I kicked your ass because of it, then yes, it got out of hand." Sasuke smirked.

"No way Duck-butt! That's not even close to what happened! I didn't bring my shadow clones out until you punched me in the face! Total cheap shot right there!" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke smirked. "It was a completely fair fight. I got a cheap shot in, and you brought in reinforcements."

Naruto crossed his arms and pouted, and Hinata giggled. The Genin heard Tsunami call everyone for dinner, and they all quickly moved to the kitchen. The Genin took their place at the dinner table and saw Tazuna and Kakashi in their respected seats. Naruto noticed that Inari wasn't there. "Where's Inari?"

Tsunami looked at Naruto with a soft smile. "Inari usually eats his breakfast and dinner in his room."

Naruto blinked. "Why?"

"Because..." Tsunami sighed. "Because Kaiza liked having family time at the dinner table. Now that Kaiza's gone...Inari tends to distant himself from us. So in case something bad were to happen to us...he...wouldn't feel so attached."

Naruto stared at Tsunami in shock. His shock quickly turned to anger. His body seemed to almost vibrate he was so angry. Naruto quickly stood up from his seat, knocking the chair backwards in the process. He then turned and began walking up the stairs to Inari's room.

Everyone watched with shock and confusion. Then they heard Inari's voice. "What do you—HEY! What the heck are you doing?! OW! Let go of me!"

Naruto came back downstairs, practically dragging Inari with him. Naruto walked up to the table, then let go of Inari. "What the heck?! You can't just go around dragging little kids around! My Jii-san should fire you for doing this!"

Naruto didn't say anything and sat down, picking up his bowl of rice. Everyone stared at Naruto in complete shock.

"Naruto-kun...is everything okay?" Hinata asked hesitantly.

"I just think Inari should have dinner with his family," he said before putting a small clump of rice in his mouth.

Inari scoffed and got up. "I'm going back to my room." He took about three steps before he stopped. The room somehow felt about twenty degrees colder suddenly. Inari turned around and saw Naruto glaring at him. "Wh...What are you doing?"

Naruto frowned as he stood up once again and moved towards Inari. Inari was quivering slightly in fear. "You're a spoiled brat. You have a family here that loves you and would give up their lives for you. One member already has, and you're just hiding in your room like a scared child. You don't deserve your family," he hissed. "You better wake up, kid. Because before you know it...the rest of your family could be snatched away from you, and you'll have no one to blame but yourself." Naruto then turned away and stormed out of the house.

Inari was on his butt, staring at the front door. He then turned to everyone at the table with a confused and scared expression. Kakashi was the first to speak. "Naruto means well Inari. He's just...frustrated right now."

Inari stood up and approached the table. "Why?"

"Naruto's an orphan. The one thing Naruto's always wanted was a family. To see you completely shunning your family over one tragic event, to be frank...it's pathetic," Kakashi said somewhat coldly before turning his attention to his food.

Inari stared at the masked man in shock. "I-I'm not pathetic!" Inari roared. "I lost my father! How would any of you know what it's like to lose someone?! He hasn't lost any one! He hasn't had anyone! You guys don't know anything!"

Kakashi, Hinata, and Sasuke then glared at Inari. Sasuke then spoke. "The Dobe is right. You don't deserve your family. You lost a father. I lost my entire clan!" Sasuke yelled, moving to his feet. "I'm no longer hungry," he added before leaving the house as well.

Inari was now feeling pathetic. He then looked up at Hinata. "Are you going to say mean things to me, too?"

Hinata shook her head. "No. But I want to tell you something Kakashi-sensei taught us during training one day. He told us those who break the rules are trash. Those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash. Your family are your comrades." Hinata saw Inari flinch. "Are you going to be trash, Inari-chan?" Hinata asked quietly.

Inari stared at Hinata with wide eyes. He then turned to his mother and grandfather, who were giving him warm smiles. Inari slowly approached Tsunami, almost afraid to be near her.

"We love you, Inari. We want to help you get through this. We'll be here for you. For anything you need," Tsunami said soothingly. Inari launched himself at his mother, wrapping his arms around her. Inari then began to sob into his mother's chest. Tsunami hugged the boy back, gently rocking back and forth to soothe her son.

Hinata watched the scene before her and smiled slightly. _'Naruto-kun...I wish you could see what you've done. You've helped open Inari-chan's eyes.'_

Naruto didn't go into the village. He had traveled into the forest to do some much-needed venting. He ran, punched trees, and yelled a couple of times. He finally stopped on one particular branch and sat down. "Maybe I shouldn't have said that to the kid..." he thought aloud. "I'd be depressed too if I saw my dad murdered in front of me." Naruto sighed and rested his back against the trunk of the tree. "Maybe I should go back and apologize..." he looked up at the sky and sighed again. "I'll do it in the morning..." Naruto said with a yawn. "Maybe I'll *yawn* do some super hard core...training..." he mumbled. Naruto shut his eyes for only a moment's rest, but he was in an instant deep sleep.

.

.

.

Naruto was still asleep in the tree the next morning. "Mmm...Hinata-chan...I want more ramen..." Naruto went to roll over on the tree, but he fell out off the branch and plummeted straight down to the ground. Naruto quickly voiced his pain, screaming about how much his head now hurt. He sat up and began rubbing his head. "Man! I can't believe I just fell out of that friggen tree! God...I'm just glad Sasuke didn't see that or I'd never hear the end of it..."

"Are you all right?" Came a soft, feminine voice from behind him.

Naruto jumped in surprise and turned around. Naruto stared into dark chocolate colored eyes. "Uuuh...yeah, I'm fine." Naruto then took in his surroundings. "That's right...I left the Old Man's house last night..." He then turned back to the girl in front of him. "Uh, sorry...um...I'm Naruto."

"I'm Haku," she said with a soft smile. "If I may ask, what were you doing sleeping in that tree?" Haku said standing up straight.

Naruto sighed. "I got into an argument with...someone. I didn't think it would be a good idea to go back last night. What about you? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here gathering herbs. I make salves that can heal injuries." Haku smiled. "It's nice to have met you, Naruto-san. I must return home. My father is expecting me."

Naruto smiled. "All right. Bye, Haku!" Naruto waved to the girl. _'She's kinda cute. But not as cute as Hina...no...! NO! Why would you think that Naruto?! She's your teammate! You're a blockhead! She's the heiress of the Hyuuga clan! She's too good for you! Yeah. Too...good for you...' _Naruto sighed and made his way back to Tazuna's house.

When Naruto returned to Tazuna's house, he saw everyone sitting at the kitchen table looking at their hands. "Uh...what's everyone doing?" Naruto was taken aback when Hinata suddenly launched herself into his arms. "Waah! Hinata-chan?! What's wrong?"

"You're safe..." she whispered into his chest. "We thought something bad happened when you didn't come back this morning..." She gripped onto his trench as she spoke.

Naruto blinked and gently hugged Hinata back. "I'm sorry. I thought I should let everything cool down before I came back. I planned on coming back last night...but I fell asleep in a tree," he said calmly.

"A tree...?" Sasuke said, staring at Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"I had to improvise!" Naruto frowned. He gently pulled away from Hinata and gave her a smile. "I'm completely fine."

Hinata blushed ad nodded. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. I guess...I was just worried."

Kakashi cleared his throat and stood up. "All right, Team. Now that Naruto has returned, we'll go out and train until noon. Then we'll return to guard Tazuna as he continues on the bridge."

"Finally," Sasuke said impatiently.

"Let's go," Kakashi said, leaving the house; Sasuke was right behind him. Hinata was about to leave when she saw Naruto walking towards Inari and his family.

"Naruto-kun?"

"Just one sec, okay?" He then came to a stop in front of Inari. "Listen, I–"

"I'm sorry."

"What...?"

Inari looked up at Naruto and gave him a small, hesitant smile. "I'm sorry. I was acting like a spoiled, cowardly brat. I was taking advantage of my family. Don't worry anymore, though, okay? I promise I'll be strong and brave for my Okaa-san and Jii-san."

Naruto beamed at Inari. "All right kid! I'll hold you to that. And I'm sorry for exploding last night. It was totally not okay on my part."

Inari's smile brightened. "All's forgotten."

Naruto smiled and walked outside with Hinata. Kakashi and Sasuke were waiting outside. "Ready now?" Kakashi asked. When he saw Naruto nod, he continued. "Tazuna informed me there is a clearing outside of the village where we can train."

.

.

.

"Don't be so bummed, Sasuke. Not everyone can be as awesome as I am," Naruto boasted. His chakra control was better than Sasuke's. Kakashi had taught them the tree climbing exercise. Hinata naturally was the best. She made it all the way to the top in one try. Naruto made it more than half way up the tree before he lost his control. Sasuke barely got off the ground.

Sasuke growled. "Shut up, Dobe!"

"Is it always like this?" Tazuna asked Hinata.

Hinata chuckled. "They always try to outdo each other during training. It's a healthy rivalry."

Tazuna shrugged. "If you say so." He suddenly shivered. "This damn fog. I should have brought something warm to wear. It's thicker because we're on the water's edge. Man, it's cold!"

Kakashi overheard Tazuna talking about the fog. This fog wasn't natural, he could feel it. Kakashi frowned. "I only know of one person who can produce this technique..." he said to himself.

Everyone froze when a sudden sadistic chuckle echoed through the fog. "Hatake Kakashi. What a coincidence to find you in Nami no Kuni."

"Who's there?!" Naruto yelled. "Come out, you coward!"

"Naruto. Shut up." Kakashi frowned. He was slowly scanning the fog, hoping to find some sign of the man hiding in the fog.

"Who are you?!" Sasuke called into the mist.

"He's one of the Seven Swordsmen," Kakashi answered. "An outcast of Kirigakure. His name is Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Hidden Mist." Kakashi growled. His eye then located the muscular shape of the man in question.

"Why, Kakashi. You flatter me." Zabuza chuckled. "Now, isn't this a coincidence. You're here to protect the bridge-builder over there, while I'm here to make sure his blood covers the ground beneath us. Funny how things play out."

"Nothing about this situation is funny, Zabuza," Kakashi growled. "Tazuna, return to your home immediately."

Tazuna nodded, then turned and ran back towards his home.

Zabuza chuckled. "He won't get far. I'll kill him as soon as I'm finished with you." Zabuza then pulled his large sword off his back and disappeared into the mist.

The Genin watched their sensei stare into the mist. He remained completely still for several moments before his chakra flared around him and the kids. The mist blew back with speed, revealing Zabuza behind the Genin.

"Too slow," Zabuka said with a dark chuckle. Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata turned and stared, horrified, at the demonic man. Zabuza raised his blade, then swung down with all his might at the Genin.

They were frozen. They all stared as the blade swung down upon them to spill their blood. But the blade never connected. In between the Genin and Zabuza, Kakashi stood with a kunai piercing into Zabuza's abdomen. Water slowly trickled out of the wound before Zabuza completely turned into a puddle of water.

"Damn...a water clone..." Kakashi then stood a little straighter. "Are you three all right?" he asked, scanning his surroundings, his eyes coming to rest on Zabuza standing on a rather sturdy branch.

"Y...Yeah..." Naruto managed to say.

Sasuke stared at Kakashi as the man glared at Zabuza. _'So strong...Their killing killing intent is suffocating. Just breathing or a sudden eye movement could be the death of me...If this continues, I'll lose my mind!'_ Sasuke then slowly drew a kunai and grasped it tightly with both hands. _'The murderous intent of these two Jounin clashing...the feeling of my life resting in someone else's hands...I'd rather kill myself than deal with this feeling!'_

"Sasuke."

Sasuke gasped slightly, looking up at his sensei. "Don't worry. I'll protect you three with my life," Kakashi said looking back at the boy with a smile. When he turned back to Zabuza, he gripped his hitai-ate, pushing it up to assume a position on his forehead.

The Genin stared at Kakashi as he revealed his second eye. It was still closed, but it had a scar that ran from his eyebrow to his cheek. Zabuza chuckled. "Oh...looks like I'll get to see The Copy Ninja at his best. I was wondering when you were going to reveal your Sharingan."

Sasuke's eyes widened as he stared at his sensei. _'He has the Sharingan?! Then...could Kakashi-sensei be...an Uchiha?'_

Kakashi frowned. "Don't be so cocky, Zabuza. It will only aid in your downfall."

"Will it?" Zabuza said, now suddenly behind Kakashi. Zabuza swung his blade, slicing Kakashi in half.

"SENSEI!" Naruto yelled in horror, but he quickly silenced himself when he saw that his sensei turned into a puddle of water. _'What...?' _He, along with his teammates and Zabuza, stared in shock.

_'The water clone technique?! Did he just...'_ Zabuza felt the cold edge of a kunai press against his neck.

"This is the end." Kakashi frowned. "Give up now, Zabuza."

The tall man only chuckled. "I realize now that you copied my water clone technique when you turned to your brats. You had your clone speak as you hid in the mist to observe. However..." Another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi. "I'm not that easy to kill." The Zabuza that stood in front of Kakashi turned into water. The real Zabuza then kicked Kakashi in the back, sending the silver-haired man flying into the water. Zabuza approached the water and performed several hand signs. "**Water Prison Jutsu!**"

A large orb of water then appeared from the body of water, holding Kakashi inside of it.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled. _'Now what are we going to do?'_

"Run!" Kakashi yelled from the water prison. "You three need to escape!"

"But...What about you, Sensei?" Hinata called. They couldn't just leave their sensei behind.

"Do as I say! Run!"

The three Genin merely stared at their sensei. '_It wouldn't matter...'_ Sasuke thought. _'He'd eventually find us and kill us, then kill Tazuna. Without you, we're screwed.'_ He then pulled out a kunai. _'Our only hope of survival is to save you.'_ Sasuke then charged at Zabuza, kunai at the ready. He had to skid to a stop when yet another clone appeared between him and the water.

Sasuke growled and tried to strike Zabuza's clone with his kunai. The clone merely dodged then kicked Sasuke in the stomach, sending the Genin flying back into a tree. Upon impact, Sasuke coughed up blood before sliding down the tree.

"Sasuke!" Hinata and Naruto yelled. They ran over to check on their teammate. "Sasuke, are you all right?"

Sasuke groaned. "I'll...I'll be fine," he said, struggling to his feet.

"Sasuke...did you bring your Fuma Shuriken?" Naruto whispered to the boy.

"Yeah...why?"

"I've got a plan." Naruto smirked. He then turned toward Zabuza and the water clone and made a few hand signs. "**Fire Style: Burning Ash!**" Naruto took a deep breath and blew a large cloud of gun powder around them.

The real Zabuza frowned. _'Impressive. The brat can use such a strong technique. However...it's useless. The amount of moisture in the air will dampen the powder, rendering it incombustible.'_

After the powder cleared, Sasuke stood in his respective positions. Zabuza and his clone stared at the Genin, their eyes landing on Sasuke. Sasuke was holding an opened Fuma Shuriken.

Kakashi stared at his Genin in shock.

Sasuke smirked as he gripped onto the Fuma Shuriken a little tighter. "**Fuma Shuriken: Windmill of Shadows!"** Sasuke then leapt in the air and threw the shuriken with all his might.

"Feh. That shuriken won't hurt me," the clone state in a bored tone. The shuriken flew past the clone and moved towards the real Zabuza. _'Ah...I see. You're coming after the real me. But it still won't work. It's too easy. '_ When the shuriken was close enough, he easily caught it with his free hand. Zabuza was taken by surprise when another Fuma Shuriken was quickly making its way towards him. _'Another shuriken was in the shadow of the first?!'_ But that didn't faze Zabuza for long. When the shuriken approached, he merely leapt as high as he could, allowing the shuriken to continue its path underneath him. _'Hmph. Still too easy.'_ Zabuza smirked at the Genin, but was slightly taken aback when he saw _them_ smirking at _him._ He heard a "poof" and saw, out of the corner of his eye, Naruto, holding a kunai. '_What?!'_

Kakashi saw Naruto and his eyes widened. _'This was your plan? Who would have thought _you _would've come up with _this, _Naruto?'_

Naruto smirked and threw the kunai at Zabuza, the kunai aimed at his head. Zabuza stared as the kunai flew right towards him. He bent backwards and the kunai flew over him. He was about to smirk until he heard another "poof." His eyes widened when he felt something strike his should and felt the arm go numb. He saw Hinata smirking at him, her Byakugan activated and her fingers pressing against his shoulder. The water prison had dispelled, and Kakashi was released, falling back into the water. His lost concentration also caused his water clone to dispel, and it turned into yet another puddle.

Zabuza growled loudly and kicked Hinata away. "Wretched brats!"

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto called, he went to run to her but was stopped by Zabuza's intense stare. The Jounin than began to spin the Fuma Shuriken, ready to charge out of rage. There was a cloud "clang", and the shuriken stopped spinning. Kakashi had blocked the shuriken with his plated gloves. Kakashi looked up at the evil man with a paralyzing glare, his Sharingan making it all the more terrifying.

"Let me tell you now...that technique won't work against me twice," Kakashi said quietly. "Well done, Team. I'll handle this filth now." Kakashi spat. The two Jounin leapt away from each other, Zabuza disposing of the Fuma Shuriken. After landing on top of the water, Zabuza quickly began a multitude of hand signs.

Kakashi's Sharingan instantly activated, and Kakashi began mimicking Zabuza sign for sign. Once finished, the two Jounin cried out simultaneously "**Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"**

Two large dragons erupted from the water. They clashed and fought for dominance, but both dragons were equally matched. Realizing this, Zabuza drew his over-sized broad sword and attacked Kakashi, who blocked the blade with a kunai. Both struggled for control as the water dragons canceled one another, and the now-idle water rained down upon and around them.

Zabuza growled as he continued to push his blade. _'Something's not right. The Sharingan is supposed to memorize and copy an opponent's jutsu. But...the jutsu were executed at the same time!'_

The two Jounin pushed away from each other, glaring at their opponent. When Zabuza started to move to the right, Kakashi would move in sync towards the left. After circling each other for a few moments, Zabuza formed yet another hand sign but stopped when Kakashi did the same. _'My movements...they're being perfectly–'_

"Predicted by him?" Kakashi voiced.

Zabuza's eyes widened. _'He knew what I was going to say in my mind?! Dammit...'_ he thought, making another hand sign. _'This guy–'_

"Has such unpleasant eyes, right?"

Zabuza's eyes widened further. "Feh! You're just copying me. That's nothing original!"

"You can't beat me, you monkey!" they said simultaneously. Zabuza looked almost frightened with what Kakashi was doing.

The three Genin watched as their sensei copied and practically read Zabuza's mind. "I never knew the Sharingan could do that..." Hinata said, more to herself than either of her teammates.

Sasuke then turned to Hinata. "One of the Sharingan's most famous abilities is to memorize ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu with almost 100% accuracy," Sasuke explained. _'But Kakashi-sensei's ability to copy and memorize things is unreal. He's able to know what Zabuza is thinking...I've never heard of the Sharingan being able to read minds...'_

"Damn you, Kakashi!" Zabuza yelled. "I'll make sure you never use that damn copy move ever again!" Zabuza began another combination of hand signs, Kakashi copying him sign for sign. When Zabuza finished the combination, he froze. Behind Kakashi was himself. _'Wh...What?! Is that me? It must be some sort of illusion!'_

"**Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!"** Kakashi yelled. Zabuza's eyes widened as a vortex formed in front of Kakashi and flew at him.

"I-Impossible!" Zabuza shouted before the impact of the blast hit him. Zabuza was dragged by the huge blast of water until he hit a large tree. As the water receded, Zabuza used what little strength he had left to look up toward his opponent, who was perched on a branch above the rogue.

Once the water had finally gone, Kakashi addressed Zabuza. "This is the end."

Zabuza frowned. "Why? Can you see the future?"

"Yeah...you're going to die," Kakashi said, drawing one more kunai.

Before Kakashi could deliver the final blow, two senbon needles flew right into Zabuza's neck. The Jounin fell forward in a heap.

Everyone stared wide-eyed as a figure came into sight. "You were right. He did die," the figure's voice said.

Kakashi slowly approached Zabuza's body, knelt down and checked his pulse. "It's over. He's dead." He then looked up at the ninja before him. "You're a hunter-nin."

"Indeed. Momochi Zabuza is a rogue ninja in our village. I've been sent out to find him and dispose of him. He carries many secrets of our village. I wish to thank you for aiding me in his death." The hunter-nin bowed to Kakashi, then approached Zabuza's corpse.

"What do you plan on doing with the body?" Kakashi asked. He took in the hunter-nin's appearance.

The hunter-nin was female by the figure. She wore a moss green, striped turtleneck sweater and a split skirt in matching color that reached down to her knees. On the outside of that, she wore a green and blue short kimono with white edges, and around her waist a green and brown obi, in the same fabric as her sweater, with a fringed trail. She also wore light brown platoon sandals with straps in the same color as her kimono and nail polish on her fingernails and toenails in matching blue green color. The hair was pulled back into a white bun holder, her bangs hanging in her face and held by two metal clasps. Finally, she wore a white hunter-nin mask with the Kirigakure symbol on the forehead.

She hoisted Zabuza's corpse onto her shoulder and looked at Kakashi. "I will dispose of it properly, so the secrets may be buried with him." She then made a hand sign. "Your battle ends here for now. Excuse me." With that, the hunter-nin and Zabuza vanished.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata approached their teacher, Naruto looking quite angry. "What the hell?! She didn't even do anything! We risked out butts to kill that guy, and she has to come in and steal the glory?!"

"Don't worry about it, Naruto," Kakashi said, putting his hitai-ate back over his Sharingan. "Zabuza won't be a factor in our mission any longer. We'll now be able to fulfill our duty without any more problems." '_I hope. But that hunter-nin gave me an odd feeling. She was no ordinary kid.'_

"Kakashi-sensei? Are you all right?" Hinata asked, going straight into caretaker mode.

"Heh. I'm fine. Come. Let's go back to Tazuna's house and explain that the immediate threat is taken care of, and he can resume his bridge building in the morning," Kakashi said, his voice betraying the smile his mask hid. The Genin couldn't help but smile back. Kakashi started to walk back to Tazuna's house with his team, but, after he took his third step, his legs began shaking and his entire body felt extremely heavy and weak.

"Kakashi-sensei? Why'd you stop?" Hinata asked.

Kakashi remained silent. A few very silent, very tense moments passed. Then Kakashi's body gave out, and he fell forward, unconscious.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

**End Chapter**

**Sooooo?! What did you think? I hope you liked it! Don't forget to Review! Review! Review! Review! Thanks guys! Lot's of love!**

**~Lu Lu-Chan25**


	9. Traitor

**Traitor**

**Alright everyone. Here it is. Chapter 9, and this one is now edited. So yeah…hope you all enjoy!**

**Special thanks to my Beta hinatasgreatestfan. Thanks for the edits!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!**

"Don't worry you three. Hatake-san will be just fine. It seems your battle has caused him some extreme exhaustion," Tsunami said to Team 7. She saw the looks of relief on their faces and smiled.

Naruto then went to go into Kakashi's room, but Tsunami stopped him. "You shouldn't bother him, Naruto. He's sleeping right now. You should let him recover his strength."

Naruto was going to argue with her but decided against it. Kakashi did need his rest, and there was nothing he could really ask his teacher while he was asleep. He sighed and nodded. He felt completely useless right now. Their teacher was indisposed at the moment, and the three of them weren't strong enough to watch Tazuna alone. Naruto sighed and began to walk towards the door.

"Naruto-kun...where are you going?" Hinata asked, worried about the blond.

"Going for a walk. I need to clear my head," he said softly before walking out the front door.

Hinata watched him leave with a heavy heart. '_Naruto-kun...' _She turned around and saw Sasuke and Tsunami staring at her. She took a deep breath before she spoke. "I'm going to follow him and make sure he's okay..."

Sasuke sighed. "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

Hinata nodded. She heard Tsunami telling her to be careful as she walked out the door. She saw the outline of Naruto walking into the woods. She took to the trees, silently following Naruto to make sure he would be safe.

Naruto walked through the woods with a solemn atmosphere around him. '_I can't believe this...We didn't defeat Zabuza...not fully. Kakashi-sensei is hurt. We can't guard Tazuna without Kakashi-sensei. We're so screwed!' _Naruto stopped in his tracks when he heard leaves rustle. He turned around and saw several leaves floating to the ground. He sighed and looked up. "Which one of you is following me?"

Hinata leapt down in front of Naruto, looking at her feet. "I'm sorry Naruto-kun...I just wanted to make sure you were going to be okay."

Naruto looked at Hinata for a moment before giving the girl a soft smile. "Thank you, Hinata. I mean...I'm kinda upset that you were spying on me instead of just coming after me."

Hinata nodded slowly. "I...wanted to give you space. I thought that once you bounced back, I'd go back to Tazuna-san's home."

Naruto stared at the blunette, then placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for being there for me, Hinata-chan."

"Naruto-san?"

Naruto and Hinata turned to the voice, and Naruto smiled brightly at the person before him. "Hey, Haku! What are you doing out here?" Naruto asked, smiling at the browned-haired girl.

"I could ask you the same thing, Naruto-san." Haku smiled.

Hinata watched the situation before her with slight agitation. Who was this girl talking to her Naruto-kun?! She wasn't going to let some random girl come in and take what she had taken so long to achieve. She couldn't help but feel jealous. "Who's this, Naruto-kun?" she asked, trying to hide the jealousy in her voice.

"Oh! Hinata-chan, this is Haku. I met Haku the other day when I left the house." He smiled brightly. "You never answered my question, Haku." Naruto smiled at the older girl. "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm gathering herbs to make a medical salve for someone. My father was hurt recently, and I want to make sure he's going to be okay," Haku said with a smile.

Naruto growled. "Damn that Gato! He's always hurting people! Don't worry Haku! Me and my team will make sure Gato won't hurt anyone else." Naruto then gave Haku a thumbs-up and his signature grin.

Haku chuckled. "Thank you Naruto-san. If I may ask, why are you and your friend here?"

"Well uh...you see..." He looked at Hinata, not sure if he should divulge their little tiff.

Hinata smiled at Haku, moving to stand next to Naruto. "We were going into town to do some shopping for the people who are housing us. But we decided to take the scenic route." Hinata blushed slightly. She saw Haku nod, accepting the response. Hinata then decided to change the topic. "You said you're looking for herbs for a salve. May I help you?"

Haku smiled brightly. "I welcome it. I'm actually looking for two specific flowers. Do you know what a Geranium looks like?"

Hinata smiled. "I do. Why do you need Geraniums?"

"Their oil is the key ingredient to my salve. It stops excessive bleeding and hemorrhaging. I'm almost out of the oil, so I need to start extracting some more." Haku explained. "I also need Camellias. Their leaves can be ground up and brewed to make a green tea, that can relieve muscle soreness. Their leaves are large, and they have small white petals."

"Wow...I had no idea a common flower held such healing qualities. May I keep a few flowers for myself?" Hinata asked with a smile.

"Of course. Come. Let's begin our search." Haku explained what a Geranium and Camellias looked like to Naruto, and they began their search. The trio, or rather Naruto did a majority of the talking in the group. He talked about the battle that had taken place the day before, how awesome they had done against Zabuza and how their sensei was hurt. Haku had listened intently, only nodding or giving a small hum in acknowledgment.

Hinata and Haku, despite not talking a lot, got along quite well. They had spoken amongst themselves, whenever Naruto wasn't talking. They had several similar interests, including flower pressing, animals, and, to Hinata's pleasure, cinnamon buns.

After about an hour of picking, Haku had an armful of Geraniums and Camellias, and Hinata had acquired quite a few as well. "I must thank you for your help. It would have taken me much longer to acquire this many flowers."

"No problem Haku! We'll help any time!" Naruto boasted happily.

Hinata smiled at her new friend. "I hope your father gets well soon."

Haku thanked the duo and turned to leave, when Naruto stopped her. "Hey Haku, why don't we all meet up later? You can meet Sasuke! He's kind of a grump, but he's nice...enough." Naruto chuckled.

Haku chuckled. "I'll see what I can do. Thank you again." She bowed and left. Haku walked through the city, coming into a very rundown and poor part of town. She entered a house that resembled a shack more than anything. When she entered, she saw her "father" sitting up in his bed. "Zabuza-sama, your wounds are still healing. Please rest," she said, placing the flowers on a nearby table. She then began to crush the flowers and strip the stems for the oil inside.

"My wounds aren't serious," Zabuza said, attempting to stand. He grunted in pain, and returned to his original sitting position.

"Indeed," Haku chuckled. She mixed the Geranium oil and several other herbs together until a creamy salve had formed in the bowl. "I spoke with two of the leaf ninja from yesterday. They are quite interesting."

Zabuza grunted. "Haku...do not get attached. They are protecting our target. Therefore, they must be eliminated."

Haku sighed. She approached Zabuza and began to remove his bandages. "Don't fret, Zabuza-sama. That won't be a problem." But it was too late for Haku. She already considered Naruto and Hinata friends. Haku then began to rub in her salve on Zabuza's wounds. She heard him groan and continued. "Your wounds are healing well. You should be completely healed in a few days," Haku said, reapplying bandages to the man's wounds.

Zabuza nodded. "Haku...start preparing. We strike in a few days."

Haku, who was cleaning up the table, looked over her shoulder. "Of course, Zabuza-sama."

.

.

.

"Eh?! Kakashi-sensei's awake?! Why didn't you come get us?" Naruto yelled.

"Oh, shut up, Dobe! He only woke up fifteen minutes ago. And I didn't know where you two went," Sasuke said, folding his arms over his chest. "Tsunami took up some food for him, so he's probably eating right now."

Naruto raced upstairs and rushed right into Kakashi's room. "Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi, who was holding a bowl of hot stew, looked up at Naruto. "Hey now...what's with all the noise?"

"You're better!" Naruto rushed forward and tackled his sensei in a hug. Kakashi reacted with just enough speed to put his bowl of food to the side before Naruto tackled him. Naruto heard a groan come from Kakashi and quickly backed away. "Ehehehe...sorry Kakashi-sensei," he said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Kakashi took a moment for the pain to subside before he spoke. "It's all right, Naruto. I'm more sore than hurt. Now...is everyone all right?"

Naruto nodded his head. "Yeah! Hinata-chan and Tsunami bandaged you up! Sasuke and I are fine, too!"

Kakashi nodded. "I see. I'm glad you three aren't hurt." He stared at his bowl of food sitting on his lap. _'At least I did something right.'_ Kakashi then looked up and gave Naruto his signature "U" eye. "Now Naruto...even though I'm going to be out of commission for a day or two, that doesn't mean I want you or the others to slack off."

Naruto nodded. "You got it, Kakashi-sensei!"

"Good, now send Hinata up here please? I need to speak with her." Naruto nodded and walked out of the room and downstairs. Within moments, Hinata walked in. "Ah, Hinata. I must speak with you."

Hinata walked in and sat in front of Kakashi. "How are you feeling, Sensei?"

"I've felt better, that's for sure. But I'll be fine in a couple of days," Kakashi said with a nod. "Now, Hinata...I have a special mission for you."

Hinata blinked. "A mission?"

"Yes. It's quite simple, really. I want you to push Naruto and Sasuke in their training. I want you to help with their chakra control, and their sparring skills. Your Byakugan might help them with their weak spots, where their defenses are lacking," Kakashi explained.

Hinata blinked. "But Kakashi-sensei...what about Tazuna-san and the bridge?"

"Don't worry. I've taken that into consideration. You'll be leaving with one of the boys to protect Tazuna, while the other trains separately. You'll be tutoring them as you guard Tazuna," Kakashi explained. "And, it will also train your Byakugan. It will help with sharpening your sight."

Hinata nodded. "When do we start?"

"Tomorrow. Today, take Naruto and Sasuke and begin training."

Hinata stood up and bowed to her sensei. She walked downstairs and saw Naruto and Sasuke waiting for her. Sasuke was the first to speak. "What'd Kakashi want?"

"He wants us to continue our training with out him. He's given me instructions on what to do," Hinata explained.

"I see. Let's go then," Sasuke said, turning to leave.

Hinata and Naruto nodded. As they left, Tsunami approached them with a large bento box. "This is for you three. I want you to be able to keep up your strength."

Naruto's mouth began to water. "Oh, boy! We get a super good lunch!"

Hinata smiled and took the bento. "Thank you, Tsunami-san. There are flowers on the table. Can you take the leaves of the white ones and brew them into tea for Kakashi-sensei? It'll help his recovery process."

Tsunami nodded. "I will. Good luck, you three."

The three Genin nodded and left to train. When they arrived at their destination, they immediately went to work. Sasuke went to work on the tree climbing exercise, Hinata watching with her Byakugan. She had noticed Sasuke would have an even amount of chakra in his feet, until he would get further up the tree. She could see the chakra intensifying, and Sasuke would be expelled from the tree. "Dammit!"

Hinata approached Sasuke, who was getting ready to run up the tree again. "If I may, Sasuke?" she saw Sasuke nod, and continued. "When you get to a point further up the tree, you use more chakra than needed."

Sasuke sighed. "Probably because I'm anxious to get higher."

Hinata nodded. "Stay calm as you run up. You'll go much higher if you do."

Sasuke nodded. He approached the tree again and began his run. Sasuke had run higher than he ever had on the tree before. While he didn't make it to the top, he was close. When he made it back to the ground, he looked at when he had stopped. "I'm close."

Hinata smiled. "Indeed. Continue to focus and keep calm, Sasuke. You'll make it within the hour." She saw Sasuke nod and went to Naruto, who was doing a few combinations against a rather thick tree. "Naruto-kun?"

Naruto stopped his attacks and turned to Hinata. He saw her get into her Juuken stance and Naruto couldn't help but smirk. "You're on, Hinata-chan."

The couple quickly engaged in a spar, though it was short lived. Hinata struck several weak spots, causing Naruto to fall to his knees. He looked up at Hinata, who looked upset that she hurt Naruto. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun..."

"It's okay, Hinata-chan," he said, standing up. "You showed me where my weak spots were. It only means I need to improve more. Don't worry! I'll have those weak spots covered in no time!" Naruto said, giving the heiress a thumbs up.

"You better improve, dobe. You need to give me some sort of a challenge," Sasuke called towards Naruto.

Naruto looked up and saw Sasuke standing on a branch, rather far up the tree. Farther up than Sasuke had ever gone before. "Woah. Look who finally decided to join the club," Naruto teased.

Sasuke frowned. "Can it, dobe. You had extra help during the academy. I didn't. So you technically had a handicap," Sasuke explained.

"Excuses, excuses. You couldn't beat me if the Yondaime himself gave you all his power," Naruto said, waving Sasuke off.

Sasuke growled in annoyance. His anger got the best of him and he lost control of his chakra, causing him to fall from the tree branch.

Naruto was quick to react and leapt up into the air, catching Sasuke. Landing on a thicker branch, Naruto frowned at Sasuke. "You know, the first time I wanted to hold someone like this...I was kinda hoping it'd be Hinata-chan." Naruto looked down at Hinata, who was waving up at him.

Sasuke blinked at Naruto, before the blond dropped him onto the branch. "Hmph...dobe."

"A simple thank you is fine," Naruto chuckled.

"I'll thank you when I'm dead," Sasuke said as he stood up and dusted himself off. The two boys jumped down from the branch to the ground, Hinata running up to them.

"Sasuke, are you all right?" she asked with concern.

"I'm fine. What's next?" he asked softly.

"Well...Kakashi-sensei said to push you two," she said softly. "I was thinking...we could work on a few team exercises and then we could spar against each other and point out what we could improve on," Hinata suggested.

"Great idea, Hinata-chan!" Naruto beamed.

Sasuke nodded. "Since you thought of it, what do you have in mind?"

The Genin then got to work, working on different teamwork patterns. Coming up with situations and coming up with different combinations between them. They also had several sparring matches, most of which Hinata would observe to point out any weak spots in the boys' forms.

.

.

.

Six days had passed since the battle with Zabuza and everyone was in high spirits. Naruto's and Sasuke's taijutsu had improved thanks to the extra training. Whenever either wasn't with Hinata guarding Tazuna, they would be training themselves into the ground to get stronger. Hinata had been training as well. Her Byakugan sight line had increased significantly. Before entering the Academy, Hinata was able to see up to 10 kilometers. Now she could see up to 15 kilometers. She was also able to magnify her sight and see more of the smaller insects in the forest.

Over those six days, Haku had visited them three times, meeting Sasuke and getting to know the Genin better. Haku's feelings towards the Genin had grown, and she couldn't help but feel torn about the upcoming battle that was to take place. She and Hinata had become the closest. Hinata was Haku's first friend, and Haku was Hinata's first girl friend.

Kakashi's health had improved greatly. With the help of Hinata's tea – and some rest – he was ready to go back to work. He had observed his team's training for the past few days, and he was quite impressed with what combinations they had come up with.

Team Seven and Tazuna were currently heading towards the bridge. With little to no interruptions at the bridge, Tazuna was able to make significant progress. If things remained this quiet, the bridge would be finished in just a few more days. But as they got closer to the bridge, Kakashi couldn't help but feel uneasy. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something felt off.

When they reached the bridge, everyone stopped in horror. Strung across the bridge were Tazuna's workers, either dead or unconscious. Kakashi approached one worker, who was barely conscious. "Who did this to you?" Kakashi asked with urgency.

"A d-demon..." The man whispered.

Kakashi laid the man down and noticed a very familiar jutsu. _'So he isn't dead...'_

"Kakashi-sensei...this is the Hidden Mist Jutsu!" Hinata called out.

"It can't be! Zabuza's dead!" Naruto cried. He was quickly silenced by a dark chuckle.

"I'm dead, am I?" Zabuza's voice carried through the mist. Within moments, Zabuza's figure appeared through the mist, accompanied by the hunter nin who had taken him away.

"So...he was working for you the whole time..." Kakashi said more as a statement than a question. His eyes then drifted towards Zabuza's companion. _She has skill with a senbon and knows the human body well if she knows where to strike proper pressure points. _Kakashi then turned to his team. "You three protect Tazuna. I'll take care of Zabuza and his friend."

Zabuza chuckled and slightly shook his head. "You're more of a fool than I had originally thought Kakashi. Do you really think your little Sharingan trick will work on me twice?" Zabuza chuckled. "As for Haku here...she'll be able to decimate your team before they can even land a hit on her."

The Genin stared at the hunter-nin with shocked expressions. "H...Haku...?" Naruto asked as he took a step forward.

Kakashi turned towards his Genin and saw the horror etched on their faces.

"Y-You're not really Haku...are you?" Naruto said quietly, as his right hand slowly and shakily reached out towards her. A senbon flew by Naruto, scratching his cheek as it flew by. Naruto froze, his hand still stretched out. "H-Haku...why?!"

"I am Zabuza-sama's tool. Therefore I will do whatever Zabuza-sama wishes me to do," Haku said as she grabbed more senbon.

"B-But we're friends...!" Naruto yelled at the girl.

Zabuza chuckled darkly, and Naruto turned his attention to the mist demon. "You were played, boy. She only became your 'friend' because I told her to gain your trust. Your friendship with her meant nothing."

Kakashi stared at the girl and noticed an ever-so-slight flinch when Zabuza said her friendship meant nothing to the Genin. _'This girl still holds a soft spot for them...perhaps we can use this to our advantage.' _Kakashi then turned his attention to Naruto, who was visibly shaking. _'Shit..._'

"Sasuke, I want you to engage with Haku. Hinata, try to calm Naruto down. We need him to focus and realize that she is not your friend and that she's the enemy," Kakashi explained.

Sasuke and Hinata flinched slightly. Hinata really liked Haku and thought of her as a really close friend. Sasuke, while he didn't know Haku as well as Naruto or Hinata, also deemed Haku as a friend and hated that he might have to kill her. Sasuke nodded at his sensei, then turned to Haku. "You pretended to be our friend...and you betrayed our trust. I don't take well to betrayers," Sasuke said, pulling some shuriken from his weapon pouch.

If it weren't for her mask, Haku's emotions would have been clearly seen. She was upset and didn't want to fight her friends. But she was Zabuza's tool, and she'd do anything for Zabuza. Haku took a deep breath, willing away her sadness, and prepared for her fight.

Sasuke threw the shuriken, which were intercepted by Haku's senbon. _'Damn...I forgot about her precise aim.'_ Sasuke did several hand-signs, inhaled, and breathed out his **Giant Fireball Jutsu.** Sasuke watched his opponent preform a simple hand sign.

Haku stared at Sasuke, calling out, **"Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death!"**

The two jutsu collided, causing a hot mist to surrounded them. Sasuke frowned. _Damn...Zabuza's mist is bad __enough, now I have to deal with this..._After Sasuke could begin to see through the thick mist, he saw something shining. He cautiously approached and took a step back in shock. In front of him was a mirror. "Wh-What...?!" he said, staring at his reflection.

"Jutsu complete. **Demonic Ice Mirrors**." Haku smirked as she stood outside the dome of ice mirrors. To Sasuke's surprise Haku then merged with the ice mirrors, her reflection showing on all the mirrors.

Sasuke stared at all the reflections, shivering in slight fear.

.

.

Zabuza watched Haku and Kakashi's student engage in combat and chuckled. "Haku could kill your little student in five minutes," he said grabbing his sword. "And it appears your other students are worthless," he added, pointing to Naruto and Hinata. Hinata was kneeling next to Naruto, who was still shaking. "Just admit defeat, Kakashi. If you do, I'll make your deaths swift and painless." Zabuza chuckled darkly.

Kakashi turned back to Zabuza and glared. "I will not abandon my team. I will also...not allow you to get away with your sins," Kakashi said as he lifted up his hitai-ate, revealing his Sharingan. Kakashi heard Zabuza chuckle, and it sent a slight shiver down his spine.

"You think your little eye will work again? Shame on you, Kakashi." He chuckled again and lifted his sword. "That trick won't work on me twice. Prepare to die."

.

.

"Naruto-kun! Please! Snap out of it!"Hinata pleaded. "We need your help!" she cried. No matter what she did, Naruto was still shaking and not responding to her. "Naruto-kun!"

What Hinata didn't know was Naruto wasn't just shaking from shock. He was also shaking with rage. Naruto looked up at the fight going on between Sasuke and Haku, and he let out a small growl. His whisker marks grew dark, and his eyes flashed red.

Hinata gasped. "N-Naruto-kun...?" She had never seen anything like this before. His eyes would flash from the crystal blue color, into a deep crimson. His pupils would switch from round to slits, almost like a cat or a fox. _'What is __happening to you, Naruto-kun?' _She then heard Naruto growl again, and saw him bare his teeth, which were rather large and sharp. Hinata gasped and hugged Naruto tightly. "Naruto-kun! Snap out of it! Please!"

Naruto gasped and turned to Hinata. His eyes had changed from red to their crystal blue once again, and his eyes had softened. "Hinata-chan?" he asked, staring into her lavender eyes. He saw the worry and fear in her eyes, and he hugged her back. "I'm sorry, Hinata-chan." He then pulled away and gave Hinata a confident smirk. "Come on...let's go help Sasuke."

Hinata was happy that Naruto was back to himself and ready to fight, but she couldn't help that sinking feeling in her stomach after she saw Naruto's changing appearance.

.

.

"Now, we have to do this quickly. Remember, we're taking her as a hostage. So we don't murder her."

"Yeah, yeah. You told me this six times already."

"Well last time you killed the hostage before we could bring her back to the boss!" Two samurai stood before Tazuna's house, swords tied to their hips. One had shoulder-length silver hair, a blue bandanna on his head, and small red triangles tattooed under his eyes. The other was a tall man with his brown hair in a topknot. He had a scar on his forehead and an eye-patch over his right eye. The shorter, silver-haired Samurai turned to his partner and nodded. "Would you like to make the entrance? Or shall I?"

"You know I like making an entrance, Kin." The brown-haired samurai laughed.

"Then go right ahead, Goro," Kin said with a smirk.

Goro smirked, and with a small deal of strength, kicked the front door in.

Tsunami, who was washing dishes with Inari, yelped in surprise when she heard the door being kicked in. Both Tsunami and Inari turned around and gasped. "Wh-Who are you...?"

"That's none of your concern, Missy," Kin said. "Now come with us quietly."

"Leave my okaa-san alone!" Inari said, stepping in front of his mom. Inari yelped as he was kicked away by Goro. He coughed and clutched his stomach, the wind completely knocked out of him.

"Inari!" Tsunami went to run towards her son when Kin stopped her, sword extended. "What do you want with me?!" she yelled.

"We want you to come with us...quietly," Kin said as he took a step towards Tsunami. He suddenly lurched forward and hissed in pain. He turned around and saw Inari glaring at him. "You damn brat." Kin then grabbed the sheath to his sword and brought it down onto Inari.

Inari gasped and closed his eyes, waiting for the impact. Instead of the feeling of the hard sheath hitting him, he felt arms wrap around him. His eyes widened as he saw his mom use her body to defend him from the hit. Tsunami yelped in pain and slumped to the floor. "O...Okaa-san...?"

"Hmph. Way to go, Kin. You knocked her out! We were supposed to take her alive and kicking." Goro went to pick her up, but Inari shoved his hand away. "You damn brat!"

"Leave her alone! If you want a hostage, take me!" Inari yelled.

Kin and Goro looked slightly confused.

"I-I'm Tazuna's grandson. I'm more valuable than my okaa-san," he said, glaring at the samurai. "I'm my Jii-san's apprentice. With me...the bridge building ends." Inari frowned.

Goro looked down at his partner. "What do you think?" the large man asked, a dark grin creeping up on his lips.

Kin grinned as well. "I say we take him. Tie him and gag him," Kin said, turning towards the front door. When he turned back towards his partner, he saw that he had already hoisted a bound and gagged Inari over his shoulders. "Excellent. Let's go."

As the two samurai left the house, Tsunami had awakened to see them carrying her son away. "I...Inari..."

.

.

"D...Dammit..." Sasuke was on one knee, staring up at the multiple reflections of Haku. None of his fire jutsu were working on the ice. He was exhausted, and he had been struck several times by Haku's senbon. _'She's so fast...I-I can't keep up!'_

Hinata and Naruto rushed towards the dome and saw Sasuke was starting to fade. "Sasuke!" Naruto yelled. "Hang on, Sasuke! We're coming in!"

Naruto tried to rush into the dome but was stopped by Haku, who threw senbon at him. "I don't think so, Naruto-san. The only way you'll get your friend out is if you kill me."

Naruto flinched. He didn't want to kill Haku, but he didn't want Sasuke to die in there.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata whispered. "Keep Haku preoccupied. I have an idea."

Naruto nodded, then began to throw shuriken and kunai at the mirrors, which were merely deflected by senbon. Sasuke had caught on and began to attack from the inside.

Hinata then acted when she saw Haku being attacked by both her comrades. She had managed to sneak into the dome and next to Sasuke. "Sasuke, I have a plan. I might be able to find the real Haku with my Byakugan. The real one has to emit more chakra than the copies."

Sasuke smirked. "Good idea."

Haku panicked slightly when Hinata had entered her ice dome. _'Oh no...I could be in trouble...'_ Haku turned her attention from Naruto to the duo. _'Forgive me, my friends.'_ Haku glared at her friends, her hands moving quite quickly, forming hand signs.

Sasuke and Hinata stared as Haku did her multiple hand signs. To Hinata, Haku's hands were practically blurs. Sasuke watched and Haku's hands had significantly slowed down. He could see each sign as if Haku was going in slow motion. _'I__t can't be...'_ Sasuke smirked. _'Yes! My Sharingan!'_ Just as Sasuke's Sharingan had awoken, the ground began to rumble. Sasuke grabbed Hinata and leapt in the air as large ice spears erupted from the ground. Sasuke and Hinata landed next to them, Sasuke smirked at the many Hakus. "You're in trouble now, Haku. I've got my Sharingan."

Haku frowned. _'This surely complicates things.'_ Haku then began to attack with all her might, sending more senbon, more ice spears protruding from the ground.

Sasuke, despite his new advantage, was still not fast enough to dodge all the senbon or spears. Hinata wasn't near as badly off as Sasuke, due to Haku's main focus being to take out the strongest person.

Naruto watched from the outside, trying to attack the mirrors, hoping to find the real Haku. He stopped when Sasuke cried out in pain from a spear piercing through his right thigh. "Sasuke!"

Hinata knelt beside Sasuke, who was clutching his thigh. "Hang in there, Sasuke!" Hinata was suddenly surprised when dark smoke surrounded the done. "Wha–" she then gasped. _'Naruto-kun! It's his __**Burning Ash**__!'_

Haku frowned. "Damn..." She could only wait for the smoke to clear. But she knew two people were still in her dome, she could sense their chakra signatures.

Once the smoke cleared, Naruto was standing in front of Hinata. "Heh...now it's my turn to play." Naruto smirked. "Hinata...which one is real?"

Hinata stood on shaky legs and activated her Byakugan. Hinata scanned the mirrors and gasped. "Above!"

Naruto looked up and saw Haku diving straight towards him. Naruto was kneed square in the face, driving him into the ground. Haku then disappeared back into the mirrors.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata rushed over and knelt beside the blond. "Are you okay?"

"Ugh...y-yeah," he said, spitting out some blood. _'Damn...Haku is a lot stronger than I thought.'_

Haku frowned. _'I need to end this now.'_ Haku took out more senbon, looking at the downed blond ninja. _'I'm sorry Naruto-san. I hope you'll forgive me in the afterlife.'_ Haku took aim and threw the senbon.

Naruto closed his eyes, waiting for the impact of the senbon...but they never came. Naruto looked up and he couldn't help the gasp that left his lips. "H...Hina...ta...?" Naruto got up to a kneel and stared at the skewered girl. "Wh-Why?!"

Hinata coughed up blood, that splattered at her feet. "B-Because...I...I couldn't l-let you die...before y-you fulfill your...dream..." Hinata then fell backwards, Naruto moving to catch her.

"But what about your dream, H-Hinata? You wanted a family, to be a brilliant kunoichi! You can't die!" Tears fell uncontrollably from his eyes. "Please H-Hinata...I c-can't lose you!" he hiccuped.

Hinata smiled, her eyes growing heavy. "I-It's okay Naruto-kun...you w-won't..." Hinata's eyes slid closed, her body going completely limp in Naruto's arms.

Naruto's eyes widened, and he shakily laid Hinata down. Naruto hovered over Hinata's body, his own practically vibrating.

Haku drew more senbon, staring at the boy and the girl's body. _'I'm sorry, Hinata-san...You didn't deserve to die this way. I hope you can forgive me for what I have done, and for what I'm about to do.'_ Before Haku could throw the senbon in her hand, she noticed something very disturbing about Naruto. He was glaring at her, razor sharp teeth bared, eyes crimson, whiskers darkened, and hair wild. Red chakra oozed from his body, bubbling in anger. '_Wh...what?' _

Naruto glared and stood on all fours protectively in front of Hinata's body. He let out a low growl before letting out a spine-chilling roar, red chakra exploding from his body.

**So there it was! Chapter 9. I hoped you all enjoyed this chapter. Thanks again, and please review!**

**~Lu Lu-Chan25**


	10. Back to Konoha

**CHAPTER 10**

**BACK TO KONOHA**

**Heeeeeey everyone! I'm back! Yes I am still writing. It's just hard to write when I work two jobs. They take up a lot of my time, and starting next month, even though I'll be losing a job, I'll be starting school. So my writing will be a little spread out. I love reading your reviews.**

**BTW this is my edited version. Unfortunately, my usual Beta _hinatasgreatestfan _wasn't able to get to my chapter, so I decided to let my bestest friend edit it. I call her Chibiusa, so I thank her VERY much! Now...again, this version is edited so I have read some reviews concerning my non-edited one. (No none of them or about the errors) Some reviews I've read got me thinking about the next chapter I'm gunna write, that I haven't started yet. **

**Here are some people who have written reviews for some ideas to put in:**

**brown phantom:**

_**Gaara just had to say that within earshot of Sakura, who at this point in the story doesn't know when to keep something silent. Though in Gaara's defense he had no way of knowing that wasn't supposed to be mentioned, but on the other hand Gaara at this point in the story didn't really care too much about what other people wanted. I can only hope someone very persuasive gets to Sakura and shuts her up good before she feels the entire world has to know she now has another reason to dislike Naruto beyond the fact he's not Sasuke **_

**Brown phantom- I kind of like this little tidbit. I like the idea of Sakura trying to spread a rumor, and someone stopping it. I also like Gaara kinda being like "Oops. Was I not supposed to mention that?" but of course in Gaara words. So I'm probably going to use this idea. **

**Morbious20:**

_**Great chapter . I would have recommended putting a time skip in between when the got back to the village and the beginning of the chunin exams though. **_

**Morbious20- If I remember correctly, the story went from Wave Arc right into the Cuunin Exams in the manga and anime. I could be mistaken since it's been a while since I've read or seen any of the original Naruto stuff. While I do go back and refresh my memory on certain subject, I swear I thought it just jumped from one Arc to the other. So that's why I did the jump the way I did.**

**MariSkep-**

_**Naruto not knowing about the Kyuubi... Yeah, that's not gonna end well.**_

_**Sakura's the typical her from most fanfics but thanks for not making her incompetent or ridiculously weak. **_

**MariSkep- honestly, believe it or not, I think Sakura has a lot of potential as a character. I want to use that potential. I saw the potential in the Chuunin Exam Arc when she cut her hair and decided to make a change. I'll be doing the same thing, showing Sakura's potential, but I'm doing it my way. I want her to actually be useful later one. Not some like...pink haired bimbo that a lot of people tend to do.**

**Wacko12:**

_**dude you should really get back at Sakura. like next chapter Sasuke and Hinata find out that Sakura punched Naruto, with the former telling the pink head to leave him alone and not hurt his teammates with the latter slapping Sakura. reply **_

**Wacko12-**

**This is an ingenious idea. I will most likely use this, although I don't think I'll have Sakura slapped again. At least not for a couple more chapters lol. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. There. Said and done.**

Naruto glared and stood on all fours in front of Hinata's body protectively. He let out a low growl before letting out a spine-chilling roar, red chakra exploding from his body.

Haku stared in horror at the raw power Naruto was exuding. _'This chakra...it's so raw and evil! I feel like I'm suffocating under its pressure...' _She noticed the wounds exposed on Naruto's body were healing quite rapidly. _'What is this sorcery?' _She didn't understand how Naruto was healing so fast. She then noticed how Naruto was crouching over the girl; it was almost animalistic, like he was protecting his mate.

Naruto hovered over Hinata, his red, feral eyes stared at the bluenette with concern. He gently nuzzled the girl's cheek with his own, whimpering at her. When she didn't stir, his whines grew louder, tears threatening to fall. He pressed his forehead to hers, whining at her to try and wake her.

Haku stared at the blond, scared of the transformation that just happened in front of her. _'H-How? How is this possible? He...can't be human.'_ Haku could feel the red chakra whipping at her mirrors. A deep growl erupted from Naruto's throat. Naruto turned towards the ice nin, glaring intensely at her. Haku froze in fear. _'Wh-What am I going to do...? His stare...it's paralyzing...' _Naruto turned and faced Haku, reassuming his protective stance over Hinata. His body hunched slightly, growls rumbling in his throat before he released a piercing roar. Haku stared as Naruto crouched back and launched himself towards the mirror. Thinking quickly, she moved towards a different mirror, just missing Naruto's fist driving into her mirror. She watched the ice mirror shatter into hundred of shards.

_'That power...I have to get to-'_ As Haku thought about moving to another mirror, Naruto's fist connected to the mirror she was currently in. His fist broke through the ice and connected with Haku's cheek, sending her flying out of her mirror. After skidding backwards, she stood up and stared at the feral boy. _'It's not possible! I've never been thrown from my jutsu..._'

Naruto roared again and rushed towards Haku.

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Sasuke watched in awe as his teammate went through such a strange transformation. He could feel the evil chakra radiating from the ice dome. He shivered at the amount of power that rolled off the blond. _'This power is unreal.'_ He watched as Naruto punched Haku out of her ice mirrors. He stared in pure shock. _'Just what are you Naruto?'_

He stood up, blood trickling down his leg and dripping onto the stone bridge. He limped his way towards Hinata's skewered body. He knelt beside her, staring down at her peaceful face. He sighed and lowered his head, resting his forehead on her chest. _'Rest in peace, Hinata.'_

His eyes snapped open and he stared at the Hyuuga. He had felt a something beat against his forehead. _'She's...alive!?' _ he knelt his ear down to her lips and heard shallow breaths coming from her mouth. "It's not possible..." He whispered. Sasuke began to pull out senbon from Hinata's body in the places he knew wouldn't cause her to bleed out because they weren't in a critical areas. He turned towards the older nin, observing their battle. With his leg, he couldn't be much to help in battle.

.

.

"So...it seems you've been hiding a little Jinchuuriki amongst your team." Zabuza chuckled. He lifted his sword, preparing to strike. "I wonder if he actually knows what he is." Zabuza heard a rumor of that Sandaime outlawing anyone to tell Naruto of the little prisoner inside of him.

Kakashi growled at Zabuza, but was rather worried. _'With the Kyuubi's chakra seeping from Naruto, his seal could be breaking. If that seal breaks...we're all dead. I have to end this now, and stop Naruto.'_ Kakashi pulled out a small sealed scroll from his back pouch. He bit his finger drawing blood, and dragged it down the long scroll. He put it in between his hands and made a hand-sign. "Prepare to die Zabuza."

Zabuza stared at Kakashi, bored. But his eyes quickly widened when the ground started to quake. He heard a loud crack towards Haku and Naruto, and now he understood why. There was a good sized crater in the bridge, with Haku laying in the center. Naruto was standing over the girl, he fist clenched and bleeding.

Zabuza's eyes widened further as he watched Naruto pick Haku up by the collar of her kimono. "That boy...he truly is a demon." he said with a slight shiver. Not many things scared Zabuza, but the power that this demon boy had truly frightened him.

Kakashi stared in horror. This was bad. _I've got to stop Naruto before he goes into a crazed state.' _Kakashi put the scroll back into his hands and made the quick hand sign while Zabuza was distracted. A dozen ninja canines erupted from the ground, their sharp teeth sinking into Zabuza, holding him in place. "**Summoning: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique.**"

Zabuza looked at the large dog that had his fangs buried in his left shoulder, then all the smaller dogs that were clamped onto the rest of him. He then looked up to Kakashi and smirked. "Well...it looks like you're going to keep your promise after all."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Indeed I am Zabuza." Kakashi made a few more hand signs before grabbing his right wrist. Bright blue lightning appeared in his hand, crackling with a high pitched noise.

"Ah...Kakashi's legendary Chidori. I never thought I'd see it in my life time." Zabuza mused.

"Then you should be honored to be destroyed by it." Kakashi smirked. "Prepare to die Zabuza."

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.

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Naruto stared down at the half-conscious nin below him. He bent down and picked up the broken girl with his bloody fist by her kimono. "**Die.**" Naruto pulled his fist back to punch the girl in the face.

"NARUTO!"

Naruto's red eyes turned towards Sasuke. "Hinata's alive, Naruto!"

Naruto's eyes widened, and his red demon eyes flashed to blue. "Wh...what?" Naruto stared at his friend beside Sasuke. Haku's kimono slipped out of his hands as he stared at the unconscious bluenette. He was brought back to reality by Haku's loud hacking. He looked down at the girl and noticed she was coughing up a lot of blood.

Haku took a few breaths, making sure she could still breathe. She could tell that a majority of her ribs were either cracked or completely broken. She looked up and wiped the blood from her lips. "Why...?"

"Why what?"

"Why didn't you kill me?" Haku said, trying to push herself up. "I almost killed someone important to you, and I injured your other teammate. You should have killed me." She said, struggling to her feet.

"I should have. You hurt Hinata-Chan really bad, and you also hurt Sasuke. But Hinata-Chan isn't dead. So...why should I take a life when a life hasn't been taken?"

Haku stared at Naruto with wide eyes. '_How...how could he be so considerate and sincere? I almost killed people who are__precious to him.'_ Her eyes widened further when Naruto held out his hand.

Naruto waited a moment and chuckled. "It's just a hand Haku. Take it."

Without realizing it, Haku reached out and took Naruto's hand. He pulled her up and smiled. The two nin turned towards the crackling sound of Kakashi's Chidori. Haku gasped and she rushed to Zabuza's side as fast as she could. She reached the Jounin and stood in between them.

"Haku! What are you doing?!" Naruto yelled.

"I can't let you kill Zabuza-Sama." She said, her arms spread out. "He is my reason for living!"

Zabuza smirked behind Haku. "What are you going to do now, Kakashi? Are you going to plow through her to get to me?"

Kakashi frowned. _'Dammit...I don't have a choice.'_ "If it sends you to hell, I don't care." Kakashi lifted his hand holding the Chidori.

"Kakashi-Sensei! You can't kill them!" Naruto yelled, running to his teacher and friend. "Hinata-Chan is alive! You can't take their lives!" Naruto pleaded.

Kakashi growled. "Dammit Naruto, don't you understand? These two have probably killed hundreds, if not thousands of people in their lifetime combined. They deserve to die."

"What about you, Kakashi-Sensei?! How many people have you killed in your lifetime?!" Naruto shouted, fighting tears back.

Kakashi froze, recalling many of the people he killed. Some...had been much harder than others. He shook the images from his head, staring back at Zabuza. Kakashi was torn: either ram his **Chidori** through Haku, and hope he could do another to kill Zabuza; or, let them live. Both of which he couldn't do. As he stood there, his **Chidori **crackling loudly, a sinister chuckle came through the mist.

"How pathetic Zabuza. You can't even kill these pathetic little ninja, let alone the bridge builder." A short, stout man walked through the mist wearing a nice black suit and round sunglasses, several hundred of his goons behind him. They all wielded some kind of sharp weapon. "I guess if you want something done, you've gotta do it yourself."

Kakashi's **Chidori** dissipated as he and the other ninja stared at the short man. "You must be Gato." Kakashi stated.

"Indeed I am." he smirked. "And you must be the Konoha ninja sent here to keep Tazuna safe." Gato said looking at Kakashi. His eyes scanned the battle field and saw Sasuke kneeling next to Hinata. "Uh-oh...it appears we have a casualty." He chuckled darkly. "Oh well. One less brat to deal with."

Naruto let out a small growl. "Don't you dare speak about Hinata-Chan like that!"

"Ooh...did I strike a chord?" Gato smirked. "She's dead. And soon...you will be too."

"She's not dead!" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke was listening to the conversation, and drew a kunai from his back pouch, in case things got ugly. There was a soft groan next to him and he saw Hinata slowly opening her eyes. "Hinata?"

Hinata groaned again and her eyes fluttered open. "S-Sasuke...? Wh-Where am I?"

"You're on the bridge Hinata. You were hurt." he explained.

Naruto looked over to Hinata and Sasuke, and saw Sasuke help Hinata sit up. "See..." Naruto sighed in relief. "She's not dead." He turned to Gato and smirked.

Gato frowned. "Well then, maybe I should change that." His frown turned into a dark, threatening grin. He signaled for someone to come forward. Two men came forward, carrying a tied up Inari. They threw the boy on the ground, who yelped in pain.

"Inari!" Naruto yelled. "You bastard!" Naruto snarled at Gato.

"Naruto-Niisan!" Inari pleaded. "Please! Help me!"

"Hang on, Inari!" Naruto yelled.

Gato chuckled and kicked Inari in the stomach, causing the boy to slide several feet. Inari gasped sharply before coughing.

Naruto's widened and he ran to the young boy. He knelt beside Inari, trying to free the boy from his restraints. "Naruto-Niisan...they...they hurt Okaa-San." Inari cried. "Sh-She...c-could be dead..." Once Inari was free, he hugged Naruto tightly. "P-Please Nii-San...I can't lose my Okaa-San too..." He cried.

Naruto hugged Inari back and glared at Gato. "Don't worry Inari. Soon...Gato won't be able to hurt you, your Okaa-San, or anyone else ever again."

Kakashi looked from Gato to Zabuza and Haku. "What do you say we put our little fight on hold?"

"I couldn't agree more, Kakashi." Zabuza smirked. He rotated his shoulders and neck when Kakashi's dogs let go. His right arm was no good to him now. It was broken thanks to three of the dogs that sunk their teeth into it.

Gato shook his head. "You truly are morons."

Zabuza held his sword in his good hand and smirked excitedly. "Haku...you're with me. Let's take care of those stupid goons."

Haku nodded. "Of course, Zabuza-Sama." She said, drawing senbon.

"I'm with you, too." Naruto said standing next to Haku. He had told Inari to go hide by some of the building equipment and to not come out until someone came and got him.

"I can help, too." Hinata said, standing next to Naruto.

"Hinata-Chan? Are you sure? You were hurt very badly." Naruto worried.

"I might not be a huge help, but I can offer what strength I have left." She smiled at him.

"If she can fight, so can I." Sasuke said, moving next to Zabuza's other side. Sasuke's thigh was bandaged tightly by one of his leg wraps. There was still a little spot of blood coming from his wound. "Hinata and I can work on getting Gato away from his cronies and tied up."

Kakashi shook his head as he stood next to Sasuke. "I guess Team 7 just got a little bit bigger. I'll help you two get Gato away from his men." He told Hinata and Sasuke. "You two aren't fit to fight all those men on your own." he stated bluntly.

"Yes, Kakashi-Sensei." They said.

"You sure you brats can handle this? You'll have to kill." Zabuza said with a low tone.

Naruto hung his head for a moment. "Kakashi-Sensei warned us that one day we will have to kill. No one's ready for their first kill. It's just something we have to overcome." He raised his head and glared at the evil group in front of them.

Zabuza stared at the group as well. "Good answer."

Gato smirked at the group of ninja before him and shook his head. "You guys are sad and pathetic." He chuckled.

"Not as sad and pathetic as you!" Came a strong feminine voice.

Everyone turned and saw Tsunami walking towards them, her grandfather at her side, and a large group of the villagers behind them.

"Okaa-San!" Inari exclaimed, running towards his mother. Tsunami knelt down and hugged her son. "Okaa-San! You aren't dead! You're alright!"

Tsunami hugged Inari tighter and nodded. "I'm alright thanks to you, Inari. You were so brave and strong. Your father would be proud."

Inari sniffed a few times and hugged his mother again.

Tsunami then glared at Gato. "We won't stand for your crap anymore, Gato! We are going to stand up for ourselves and stop you and your evil!"

Gato shook his head. "How pathetic. You'll soon find out that it is a very...very bad idea to go against me." He smirked. "Kill them."

The men behind Gato gave a large battle cry, before rushing towards the villagers and the ninja.

"Team 7, go!" Kakashi commanded. Kakashi and his students moved with the best of their abilities. Zabuza and Haku followed suit. Once the ninjas moved, the villagers let out a battle cry of their own and attacked.

Naruto, Haku, and Zabuza made their way into the large mass of Gato's men. Zabuza was making easy work of the men, slicing them in every direction with his large sword. Haku was fairing just as well. She was easily dealing with the creeps with her senbon and ice jutsus. Naruto was holding his own, mainly using his fists and feet to deal with the villains. He used his kunai and shuriken, throwing them at the evil men, killing a few in the process.

While Naruto, Zabuza, and Haku destroyed Gato's thugs, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Hinata rushed straight for Gato. Several dozen men surrounded their leader to protect him. Kakashi had made quick work of most of the men, Sasuke and Hinata taking out a few of their own, despite theirlimitations_._

Gato watched the battle in front of him, and his knees shook with fear. _'Who are these people?! Their power is unbelievable! If I don't get out of here soon...I'm a goner!'_ Gato's eyes scanned through the bloodshed for an escape route.

"I wouldn't try and run Gato." Came a soft, but serious voice. Gato turned around and saw Hinata glaring at him with her Byakuugan activated. As Gato tried to back away and run, Hinata jabbed him in several placed, rendering him immobile.

Kakashi approached Hinata with a smile...or what looked like a smile. "Well done, Hinata."

"Thank you Kakashi-Sensei." Hinata smiled back. Hinata and Kakashi jumped slightly when a blood curdling scream echoed over the bridge.

"NO! ZABUZA-SAMA!" Haku knelt next to Zabuza's motionless body. Zabuza was laying face first on the stone bridge, many different sharp objects protruding from his back. "Please, Zabuza-Sama...you can't die! You can't!"

Zabuza chuckled softly, coughing as he laughed. "Don't worry, Haku." His voice was low and weak. "I can die a guilt free man..."

"No! You can't die!" Haku pleaded again.

Team Seven approached the duo, keeping a respectable distance. Zabuza's eyes left Haku's for a moment, and went up towards Kakashi. "Kakashi..." Zabuza started. Once Kakashi was near, he continued. "I want you to watch over Haku...She hasn't been a registered ninja...so she can be forgiven for her crimes..." Zabuza coughed again, blood splattering on the stone.

"Z-Zabuza-Sama..." Haku sobbed.

"Haku...Y-You've been a wonderful companion. M-More like a daughter to me, th-than a companion." He smirked.

Haku gasped, sobbing harder. "Zab—Otou-San..." Haku choked out.

Zabuza chuckled. "Haku...I must...ask something of you...that I shouldn't. But please...indulge in my s-selfish question."

"A-Anything Otou-San."

"Kill me."

"What?!" Haku screamed.

"Are you nuts, Zabuza?!" Naruto yelled next. "You just said she's like a daughter to you, and you want your daughter to kill you?! Are you completely insane?!"

Zabuza chuckled. "It's okay brat..." He looked up at Haku and smirked. "She knows what to do..." He said, winking at her.

Haku wiped her tears, sniffling a little. "Z...Zabuza-Sama...I-I'm sorry..."

Zabuza chuckled again. "I'm not...do it, Haku...n-no regrets."

Haku took a deep breath and grabbed a senbon, hidden in her kimono sleeve. She saw Zabuza nod at her. She took another deep breath and drove the senbon in the side of Zabuza's neck. Zabuza's eyes widened when the senbon impaled his neck. Kakashi stepped forward as he watched Haku stare at her father figure with dull eyes. He knelt down and checked his pulse. He sighed and looked at his students, who were now surrounded by Inari, Tsunami, Tazuna and the remaining surviving villagers. He shook his head.

Haku leaned over Zabuza and cried.

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Eleven days passed since the second battle, and the bridge was finished. According to Tazuna, the bridge came along nicely despite the delay. Sasuke and Hinata had recovered from their injuries and regained their strength.

Gato had been taken care of almost immediately after the battle. Kakashi had written to the Hokage about the situation, and requested some Chuunin to come and escort Gato back to the village while they finished their mission. After three days, two Chuunin arrived and took the still paralyzed pudgy man back to Konoha. Once Gato and his men were apprehended, the atmosphere in Wave changed dramatically. The village seemed brighter and more relaxed; even the crime rates dropped.

The villagers treated Team 7 like heroes. They shook their hands whenever they were in town, came over and bowed to them in thanks, and some villagers even gave them gifts just to show their appreciation. At one point, Naruto started crying because the village showed him love.

Haku had been scarce during that time. No one looked for her, out of respect for her loss. However, Haku showed up to say her goodbyes to her friends.

"Do you really have to go?" Inari asked, trying to force tears away. Inari had become incredibly close to Naruto while he had been here. He was like an older brother to him.

"Yeah...I'm sorry Inari, but we need to get back to Konoha so we can protect other people." He said placing a hand on Inari's head. Naruto was also trying to hold back tears. He had grown attached to Inari and his family, the people with the village, and Wave itself. "Don't worry. I promise to write. Maybe I can visit sometime. It'll be a lot easier now that the bridge is built." Naruto said, ruffling the boy's hair.

Inari nodded, tears finally falling. "I'll miss you, Nii-San!" Inari cried and wrapped his arms around Naruto. Naruto smiled and returned the hug. Inari sniffled a few times before pulling away. "Bye Nii-San."

"See ya, Inari." Naruto smiled.

Tazuna nodded. "I want to thank you guys. Without you, this wouldn't have been possible. And I could very easily be dead."

"Otou-san." Tsunami scolded. "Don't say that." She sighed and smiled at the ninja. "We'll sure miss you."

Hinata smiled and bowed to Tsunami. "As Naruto-kun said, we'll write."

Sasuke shrugged. "Don't expect anything from me."

Naruto frowned. "Wow...just wow Sasuke."

"What?"

Naruto shook his head and turned to Haku, who had been quite. "You sure you don't want to come with us, Haku?"

Haku smiled and shook her head. "No. My place is here. I want to help out Wave as much as I can. I want to rebuild Wave to be a strong Village. I've even been recruited to help train some of the younger children in the ways of the ninja." She smiled brightly. "But I promise I'll come visit you as well."

Naruto smiled. "Alright! If you ever need anything just let us know, okay?

Haku nodded. "I promise." Haku proceeded to hug her friends. Naruto and Hinata returned the hug, while Kakashi and Sasuke settled for handshakes.

Kakashi cleared his throat and spoke. "Alright Team. We need to head out. We have a three day journey home."

Naruto looked from Kakashi to the villagers. "Alright...bye everyone!" Naruto smiled.

"Goodbye, Naruto-san. You'll be missed." Haku waved.

The villagers yelled their goodbyes as Team Seven made their way back to Konoha.

Haku, who had been standing next to Tazuna and his family, turned to the bridge builder. "Tazuna-san, what are you going to name your bridge?"

Tazuna chuckled. "Quite simple young lady. It shall be known as the Great Naruto Bridge."

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Team Seven left Wave with heavy hearts, but were excited to go home. Well, except for Naruto.

Sasuke and Hinata, who were walking next to the blonde, noticed Naruto's demeanor. "What's wrong with you, dobe? We've just completed an A-Rank mission as Genin. Normally, you'd be going on and on about it."

"Yeah...I know." He sighed.

"What's wrong Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Naruto looked over at Hinata and gave her a small smile. "I'm just nervous about going home."

No one had to ask why. Sasuke and Hinata had seen how Naruto was treated by the village when they went on their little shopping trip. Kakashi, of course, had seen it throughout Naruto's life. Naruto sighed and looked up at the blue sky. "I mean...look how we were treated in Wave after we beat Gato. I mean...When we get back to the village, you guys will be treated like royalty. Me? I'm just some worthless orphan that's hated in the village." Naruto said looking down at his feet.

Hinata frowned. "Don't say that, Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled, putting her hands on her hips. "You just saved an entire village from a greedy tyrant! You can't honestly think you're worthless?!"

Naruto sighed. "Sorry Hinata-chan. It's just...it's hard to go from one extreme to another."

Hinata stared at the blond with sad eyes. "Don't worry about the villagers, Naruto-kun. You always have us." She reassured. "As well as Hokage-Sama, Konohamaru-Sama, and his friends."

Sasuke sighed. "That's nice and all but Naruto isn't really-" Sasuke's eyes widened and his blood ran cold when he saw Hinata glaring at him. "Uh...what I meant to say was...uh...Naruto is a good friend." He said looking down at his feet.

Kakashi stared at Hinata, then at Sasuke. _'Well...that was unexpected...'_ Kakashi turned to Naruto and gave his signature "U" eye. "Hinata is right Naruto. You've done very well in Wave. You stood up for Zabuza and Haku: two people who would definitely be last on many people's list. You changed a disturbed and angry boy, and gave him hope again. And not just Inari, you helped give an entire village hope again."

"But you, Sasuke, and Hinata helped the village too." Naruto argued.

"Damn it, Naruto! Just shut up!" Sasuke yelled. It took his team by surprise. "It doesn't matter who doesn't like you! What matters are the people who do, okay?!" Sasuke sighed

"You became my friend, even though I wasn't willing to accept it at first. So...when we get back to the village, and the others are acting like totally assholes...ignore them! Pay attention to the people who actually care, alright?" Sasuke said, folding his arms over his chest.

Naruto stared at his team with wide eyes. They were right. He was acting dumb and doubting his friends. Naturo shook his head of all the negative thoughts and smiled at his team. "Thanks guys. I know I'm being stupid."

"Just a little bit." Sasuke sighed.

"Sasuke-san!"

"What? He was." Sasuke defended. "Anyways, enough of this pity party. I honestly would like to go home."

Naruto and Hinata rolled their eyes and followed Sasuke as he continued on the path. Kakashi shook his head in amusement. '_This team is sure__to keep my on my toes.'_

.

.

.

After three days of traveling with no interruptions, Team Seven was arrivedto a familiar sight. Naruto stretched his arms out wide and let out a sigh of relief. "Oh it's so good to be home! I'm _dying_ to get some Ichiraku!"

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto...you can't eat ramen your whole life."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't worry, Kakashi-Sensei. Hinata-chan already talked to me about improving my diet. I've been trying to do better." Naruto nodded.

Kakashi nodded. "Alright Naruto."

Team Seven walked through Konoha's gates and saw Koutetsu and Izumo sitting in their regular seats at the sign in. "Team Seven returning from a mission." Kakashi said with a curt nod.

Koutetsu smirked. "I see. How was it, Naruto? You guys were gone a lot longer than you should have."

Kakashi nodded. "Indeed. We were held up. I sent a message to the Hokage to let him know." Izumo nodded. "Alright. Go ahead, sign in, and you can be on your way. Oh! By the way, Hinata-Sama, your dad's been coming around here for the last few days, checking to see if your team has come in."

Hinata's eyes widened. "O..Otou-san...really?"

Naruto smiled. "Looks like your dad's worried about you, Hinata-chan." Naruto said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Hinata nodded. "I-It seems so."

Kakashi chuckled. "Alright Team. Let's go talk to the Hokage. Once we're done delivering our report, you're free to go." The Genin nodded and followed their sensei to the Hokage Tower.

As they walked to the Tower, three small voices cried out through the street. "Boss! Boss! You're back!" Konohamaru and his friends, Moegi and Udon, came running over to Naruto and his team. "Welcome back, Boss! You were gone a long time."

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, we were. We ran into some trouble while in Wave, but everything's okay now."

"Wow...you're right, Konohamaru-kun! He is cool!" Moegi giggled.

Naruto blushed slightly and scratched his nose. "Uh...thanks. So uh...we're heading to the Old Man's office to report our mission."

"Awesome! Maybe afterward, you can hang out with me and my friends, and tell us about the mission!" Konohamaru beamed.

Naruto smirked. "Alright. I'll tell you guys all over ramen." Naruto promised.

"Ichiraku's?" Udon asked, already salivating at the thought.

Naruto chuckled. "Duh! Why don't you guys head on over, and I'll meet you there soon."

Konohamaru nodded. "Alright! See you soon, Naruto-Niisan!"

Naruto waved at the kids and saw his team looking at him. "What?"

Kakashi chuckled. "Nothing. Come on."

.

.

Well, Team 7, I must say," Sarutobi said, looking at the Genin. "When I received the letter from your sensei saying how dangerous the mission had become and that you were going to complete it, I was scared. But, you handled this mission so professionally and were very mature about it. You three did excellent.

Kakashi and Sarutobi could see the three Genin beam with pride. Sarutobi chuckled. "And how many Genin could say they completed an A-Ranked mission on their first time out of the village?" The Old Man joked. "Alright you three, collect your pay and relax."

Naruto cheered and ran up to Iruka to collect his pay. Iruka smiled and handed Naruto a small envelope. "I'm immensely proud of you, Naruto. You've grown so much." Iruka praised.

Naruto blushed and smiled. "Thanks Iruka-sensei." Naruto turned towards Sarutobi. "Neh, Old Man, I promised Konohamaru and his friends some ramen. Afterward...can I talk to you about something?"

Sarutobi blinked. He could see something behind Naruto's eyes that meant something was really bothering him. Sarutobi nodded. "Of course, Naruto. I'll let my secretary know you're coming in."

Naruto nodded and smiled. He then turned to Hinata, who was picking up her pay envelope. "I'll see you later, Hinata-chan."

"Bye Naruto-kun. Have fun with Konohamaru-Sama and his friends." Hinata smiled.

Naruto nodded to his old teacher and the Hokage, then waved to Sasuke and Kakashi before leaving the tower.

Naruto strolled down the streets of Konoha, hands in his pocket, and a smile on his face. He was happy to be home. He was glad he got to see his home village again, and his little crew. He was even excited to see his other classmates. As Naruto walked closer and closer to Ichiraku's, he couldn't help but think about what he was going to say to the Hokage. He wanted answers to what went on in Wave, why he heard a voice in his head that obviously wasn't his own, and why he had a sudden rush of power. It scared him. It really scared him.

Before he knew it, he was standing in front of Ichiraku hearing his three little friends laughing. Naruto walked in and smirked. "The fun has arrived!" Naruto announced.

"Naruto-Niisan!" Konohamaru lept off the chair and hugged Naruto. "C'mon! Sit down and let's eat! We're starving!" the small boy complained.

Naruto laughed. "Alright." Naruto took his seat and ordered his ramen from Teuchi, the three students following suit.

"So, Naruto-san," Moegi started. "Tell us about your mission!" She asked excitedly.

Naruto chuckled. "Alright. Well..." Naruto told the story from beginning to end, leaving out the part about the weird power increase and red chakra, eating ramen in between his sentences. After he finished his story, the three children stared at the blond in amazement.

"Woooooow..." They said in amazed unison.

"You're so cool, Naruto-san." Udon said with his stuffed up voice.

Konohamaru smirked. "Now you see why he's my rival? He's _totally_ earned that position."

Naruto blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "Heheh, thanks Konohamaru. Now, I hate to do this but I gotta talk with the Old Man." He pulled some money from his pocket, and placed it on the counter. The three kids whined, but Naruto waved them off. "Sorry guys. Another time, I promise!" He smiled and walked away from Ichiraku's.

Naruto made it back to the Hokage Towers a few minutes later. He walked up to the Hokage's office and knocked.

"Enter."

Naruto opened the door and stepped in. "Hey, Old Man."

Sarutobi, who had been smoking his pipe and filling out the ever-so-tedious paperwork, smiled at the boy. "Good afternoon, Naruto. Come in. Sit down." He said motioning towards the lounge couch in the room.

Naruto smiled and saw down on the couch, Sarutobi joining him. "So, what did you want to talk to me about Naruto? You seemed fairly serious when you asked."

Naruto's feet fidgeted for a few moments, almost afraid to talk.

"Whatever it is, Naruto, I'll help you with it the best you can. That is...unless you've done another prank. In which case, you'll have to clean up your mess." Sarutobi teased.

Naruto chuckled a little bit, grateful for the the Old Man's sense of humor. He took a deep breath and spoke. "It's not about a prank...it's..." Naruto paused. "it's about something that happened in Wave."

Sarutobi looked at Naruto and gave the boy a comforting smile. "Listen Naruto, everyone's first kill is always hard to forget. But I'll be here for you."

Naruto smiled again. "Thank you, Old Man...but...it's not that."

Sarutobi blinked for a moment. "Then what is it, Naruto?" 

"Well..." Naruto paused again. He thought about how to word this. "Something weird happened in Wave. To me." Naruto started. "Hinata got really hurt by one of the enemy ninja...and I thought she was dead. Then...something happened."

"What happened, Naruto?" Sarutobi asked.

"Well...I heard a voice. It was deep and menacing. It wasn't very strong, but I could hear it. It was almost like a threatening whisper, you know?" Naruto rambled.

Sarutobi was staring at Naruto with wide eyes. _Oh no...it can't be._

"Then...things got weirder." Naruto continued. "I got sangrier then I usually do. I could feel something strong bubbling inside me. Then it exploded, and I was surrounded in red chakra."

The Old Man stared at Naruto as if he had grown a second head. _The fox...the fox's power has seeped through the seal! This isn't good...'_ Sarutobi was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Naruto continue.

"I got on all fours and was growling, like a feral animal." I'm scared Old Man..." Naruto shook slightly. "Is there something wrong with me?" He said looking up at the old Hokage, fear written in his eyes.

Sarutobi stared at the boy for a few moments before speaking. "No Naruto, there is nothing wrong with you. You're a very special ninja with a very special...power. And, when you saw your hurt teammate, you subconsciously tapped into that power." Sarutobi explained.

"So...I'm normal?" Naruto asked.

Sarutobi chuckled. "Oh Naruto. If you were normal, you wouldn't be special. It would be an insult to call you normal."

Naruto smiled. "Alright. But I'm okay, right?"

"Yes Naruto, you're okay. Now get going. I have some paperwork I have to continue." The Hokage groaned.

"Ew. Alright. Thanks, Old Man!" Naruto stood up and walked out of the Hokage's office with a wave.

After waving back to the blond Genin, Sarutobi rushed to his desk. He pulled out a slip of paper and a pen. _I must inform Jiraya of the slipping seal. We can't have the fox or any of it's power escaping from Naruto._

.

.

Naruto was walking around Konoha, going over his conversation with the Hokage. _'He was hiding something...' _Naruto thought. _'I could tell by the way he was looking at me. I just wish I knew what it was...'_ Naruto sighed, shoving his hands into his pant pockets.

"Naruto! Hey, Naruto!"

The blonde was brought out of his thoughts, and turned towards the voice. He saw Sakura rushing towards him, and he groaned. "What do you want, Sakura?"

"Have you seen Sasuke-kun? I haven't seen him since you guys got back from your mission." Sakura whined.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I don't know where he is, Sakura. He could be at his house recuperating. Ever think of that?"

Sakura blushed and glared at the blond. She honestly hadn't. "Shut up, Naruto!"

Naruto sighed. "Listen Sakura, I don't want to sound rude, but leave Sasuke alone. You really annoy him. It's blatantly obvious he isn't interested, so why even bother?"

Sakura's cheeks burned with embarrassment and she punched Naruto in the face. "You jerk! How dare you say something like that! I'm not the obnoxious one! You are!" She hollered.

Naruto hissed in pain and put a hand on his cheek, rubbing the tender spot. This was a one-sided battle, and it wasn't worth it to continue. "Whatever, Sakura. I'm done with you. I'm tired from our mission, so I'm going now."

Just as Naruto turned to leave, a gruff voice came from behind him and Sakura.

"Hey there cutie. How about you show me around your town."

Sakura and Naruto turned towards the voice and saw a thick boy wearing a black outfit, with a back tipped hat to complete it. His hitai-ate was sewn into the the forehead of the hat. He had purple war paint on his face, and carried scrolls on his back. To Naruto and Sakura, he looked like a big cat.

"Uuuh...no. I'm not going out with some creepy cat man who wears make up." Sakura said, sticking her nose in the air.

The boy stared, mouth agape. "It's not make up!" He yelled. "You better watch it, pinkie! I could kill you right now." He growled.

"Kankuro! Knock it off! If you keep causing trouble, Gaara's gunna get mad." Came a strong, feminine voice. A girl with four blonde pig tails, leaped out of a tree and landed next to the boy named Kankuro. She wore a lavender, off the shoulder dress, with a scarlet sash around her waist. She had a fish net undershirt that fit over her shoulders, as well as fish nets over her right calf and left thigh. She sported her black hitai-ate around her neck, much like Hinata.

Kankura turned to the girl and sighed. "Gaara's not here right now, Temari. I'm sure I can have a little fun before he shows up."

Naruto frowned. "Way to go Sakura, you made him mad."

"Shut up, Naruto-baka!" Sakura hissed.

Kankuro reached back to grab his scrolls, and Naruto reached for a Kunai in his back pounch. Before anyone could attack, another voice sounded.

"Kankuro. Enough."

Everyone saw a redhead hanging upside down from a nearby tree. Naruto noticed how Kankuro and Temari froze and seemed to cower in fear.

"G-Gaara...I-"

"Shut up."

"But Gaara-"

"Or I'll kill you." Gaara glared.

Kankuro froze and instantly quieted. Naruto and Sakura shivered slightly. It was obvious Gaara held a lot of power.

Sakura stared at the red head, then noticed the kind of power he held over, who she assumed to be his teammates. _He can do that to his teammates, and they just listen to him. That'__s...kind of cool...'_ She blushed slightly. She watched as he fixed his glare over to herself and Naruto, even though it wasn't much of a glare anymore. More of a bored look. She stared into his jade green eyes and blushed slightly. _'He...he even looks kind of cool...'_

_**'CHA! He's cool! But not as cool as our Sasuke-kun!' **_Came inner Sakura.

_'R-Right! Sasuke-kun's cooler!' _Sakura agreed.

Naruto watched the redhead as he jumped down from the tree and started making his way towards himself and Sakura. _'Who is this guy?'_

"I'm sorry for the trouble my brother has caused." Gaara spoke. His voice was deep and rather bored.

"It's...it's okay. Uh...who are you guys?" Naruto asked.

Temari spoke. "We're from Sunagakure." she stated bluntly. "I'm Temari. These are my younger brothers: Kankuro and Gaara."

Sakura blinked. "What are Suna nin doing in Konoha?"

Naruto nodded. "Not that you guys aren't welcome, it's just you guys are kinda far from home." His eyes never left Gaara. Something about this boy just felt...off.

Kankuro scoffed. "Wow. It's in their village and they don't even know."

"Know what?" Sakura frowned.

"The Chuunin Exams." Temari stated. "And we're not the only outsiders here. There are a lot of other ninja here to test for the level of Chuunin."

Sakura stared at the girl, shocked that even she didn't know. She was always caught up on the village news or gossip. She was about to ask them another question when she heard Gaara speak.

"It's an honor to finally meet you." Gaara stated to Naruto. A dark smirk spreading on his lips.

"Wh...What? What do you mean?" Naruto stuttered.

Sakura blinked. "An honor? How the hell is it an honor to meet Naruto? He's the biggest blockhead in the village!"

Gaara chuckled. One that sent shivers down Naruto's spine. "You don't know what you _are_, do you?" The redhead asked.

"What do you mean?" Naruto was getting nervous.

"You have something inside of you...a power unlike any other." Gaara continued. "A biiju."

"B-Biiju? What's that?" Naruto frowned, oviously freaked out. Naruto's eyes widened when the dark smirk widened. He shivered more when he felt power oozing from Gaara. _'This power...it's like the power I felt at the bridge. He...He knows something about this power.' _He stared at the evil looking boy and felt fear spread through every bone in his body. _'Just who are you?'_

**End**

**I hope you enjoyed it! Look out for the next chapter. Stuff is about to hit the fan! Review please!**


	11. Learning the Truth

**Chapter 11**

**Hey everyone! I'm back! I got this chapter done in a month and a half! a lot faster than I thought I would take. I'm excited about this chapter!**

**FYI! There is a lot of Sakura bashing in this chapter, though that will be ending shortly. I like Sakura, but I feel that she needs a good bashing and a reality check before actually becoming useful. LOL!**

**A special thanks to my best friend Chibiusa! She did an awesome job of editing chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, though I wish I did!**

**AN: This is the third time I've re-posted this chapter! I've gone through and re-edited it again, so hopefully all the problems are taken out and resolved!**

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_**Last time on "Change is Good, Right?"**_

_Gaara chuckled. One that sent shivers down Naruto's spine. "You don't know what you **are**, do you?" The redhead asked._

"_What do you mean?" Naruto was getting nervous._

"_You have something inside of you...a power unlike any other." Gaara continued. "A bijuu." _

"_B-Bijuu? What's that?" Naruto frowned, oviously freaked out. Naruto's eyes widened when the dark smirk widened. He shivered more when he felt power oozing from Gaara. 'This power...it's like the power I felt at the bridge. He...He knows something about this power.' He stared at the evil looking boy and felt fear spread through every bone in his body. 'Just who are you?' _

.

.

Naruto stared at the red head, eyes wide with fear. The look Gaara was giving him could only mean that this...biuu, wasn't a very good thing. Naruto continued to stare at the raccoon-like boy and tried to gather up the nerve to speak. After a few moments of collecting himself, Naruto spoke. "Well? Are you going to tell me what a bijuu is?"

Gaara seems slightly confused by Naruto's question. "You mean...you've lived your entire life without knowing what you are?" Gaara had spent most of his life knowing what he had inside him and what he was. It was almost impossible not to know when your father was the Kazekage.

Naruto blinked. "I know what I am. I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Future Hokage of Konohagakure." He said proudly. He was starting to get back his vigor.

"Oh shut up, Naruto." Sakura sighed. "You have to be strong to be Hokage."

Naruto growled. He was about to retort, but Gaara spoke before him. "I didn't ask _who_ you are. I asked _what_ you are." Gaara explained.

"You said I'm a bijuu. I don't even know what that is. And you still haven't explained it to me." Naruto said crossing his arms over his chest.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Who cares, Naruto? You probably wouldn't understand it even if he spelled it out for you."

Naruto growled. "Shut up, Sakura! No one asked your opinion!"

Sakura gasped and pouted. She turned from Naruto towards the Suna nin were. She blinked. "Uhm...where'd they go?"

Naruto blinked as well. "They're gone..." He stared at the spot where Gaara stood. _'He wasn't normal. He's hiding something. And what the hell is a bijuu?!'_

Sakura sighed. "Well, those guys were weird." She said. _'Although...that redhead was still kind of cute...'_

"For once, we agree on something." Naruto shrugged. He put a hand on his cheek, where Sakura had punched him earlier. "You know Sakura, that really fricken' hurt."

"Oh wah!" Sakura rolled her eyes. "It you're as tough as you say, you can handle a punch from a girl."

"But he shouldn't have to take a punch from you, Sakura."

Naruto and Sakura turned to the voice and saw Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura squealed. She went to glomp the Uchiha, but stopped when Sasuke held up his hand.

"Don't, Sakura. I've never had interest in you, and I certainly won't now that you've hurt my friend...again." Sasuke glared.

Naruto and Sakura stared at Sasuke with shock. Sakura took a step towards Sasuke in concern. "Sasuke-kun...? Why...Why would you say that?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I don't know. Why would you punch Naruto in the face?"

"Because he's stupid and annoying!" Sakura yelled.

"So are you." Sasuke said nonchalantly.

Sakura gasped and took a step back, surprised. "S-Sasuke-kun...why...why would you say something...so mean? I love you!" Sakura cried.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Oh my God." He began to rub the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Sakura, you've spent so much time fawning over me, you've neglected your training as a kunoichi."

"B-But I am a kunoichi!" Sakura cried again.

Sasuke sighed. "Just because you have that hitai-ate, doesn't mean you're a ninja. You're weak and you've lost sight of what it means to be a ninja because you're obsessed with me. You're so distracted with the idea of me, you aren't working as hard as you can. Do yourself a favor and get over me. While you're at it, get over yourself and get stronger.

Sakura stared at her crush for a little longer, before turning and running away in tears.

Naruto stared at Sasuke like he had grown a second head.

Sasuke turned to Naruto and blinked. "What?"

"Who are you and what have you done with the real Sasuke?" Naruto asked, gently poking the Uchiha's cheek.

"Knock it off!" Sasuke scolded, swatting the blond's hand away. "I'm still me, dobe. I'm just sick and tired of Sakura's holier-than-thou act and her obsession over me. I wouldn't be surprised if she had a cut out of me in her room." Sasuke shivered at the thought.

Naruto bent over and laughed. Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle as well. Naruto stood up straight and smiled. "Thanks."

Sasuke nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow at the training grounds."

Naruto nodded. "Kay. See ya, Sasuke." He bid his friend goodbye and headed back towards the Hokage Tower. '_The old man has some explaining to do.'_

Naruto marched to the tower, up the stairs, and into the Hokage's office. Hiruzen, who had been doing more of his ever-so-tedious paperwork, was taken by surprise when Naruto suddenly barged into his office. "Uh...hello, Naruto. Can I help you?"

"What's a Bijuu?" Naruto said looking rather angry at the Hokage.

Hiruzen froze. After a moment, he collected himself and spoke. "Naruto...it was quite rude to just burst into-"

"What is a bijuu, Old Man?! You know! I know you know what it is!"

Hiruzen sighed. He reached into his desk and pulled out his pipe. He would need to smoke if he was going to explain everything. "Walk with me, Naruto. We have a lot to talk about."

Naruto glared at the Hokage as he walked out of his office, he took a deep breath and followed the old man. Hiruzen lead Naruto all the way up to the Hokage Mountain before Naruto opened his mouth. "Alright, Old Man! You've lead me all the way up here without saying a word! Are you going to start talking or not?" Naruto was furious.

Hiruzen sighed. "Naruto...you asked me what a bijuu is. A bijuu is a titantic beast who's power is determined by how many tails it has." he explained.

"So...like the Kyuubi no Yoko." Naruto confirmed.

Hiruzen nodded. "Precisely." He took a deep breath and continued. "I'm glad you mentioned the Kyuubi, because it has to do with this conversation."

"Why? Because it's a Bijuu?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Yes and no." Hiruzen took a another deep breath and spoke. "Naruto...do you know what a jinchuuriki is?" 

Naruto shook his head. "No. What does it matter?!" He was getting impatient.

"It matters because _you_ are a jinchuuriki." Hiruzen frowned.

Naruto blinked. "But...that Suna nin said I was a bijuu." He was so confused.

Hiruzen looked at Naruto and gently stroked his beard. _'So it seems the Kazekage's children are in town.'_ The Hokage sighed. This was just not his day. "No. You're a jinchuuriki. You contain a Bijuu."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Wh...what?" He couldn't believe his ears. "I..._contain_ a bijuu?! Is that what I was feeling during the Wave mission?!" Naruto yelled. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?!"

Hiruzen had been expecting this. "Listen, Naruto. I wanted you to have as much of a normal childhood as you-"

"Normal!? What part of my life has been normal!? I'm an orphan, no family whatsoever! I had to steal to survive! Villagers would beat down my door and try to kill me every year on my _birthday_! Does that sound _normal_ to you!? How has my life been normal!?"

Hiruzen flinched slightly. "Naruto-"

"What kind of monster do I have inside of me, Old Man?" Naruto frowned. "I need to know."

Hiruzen hesitated. Should he tell Naruto the truth?

"Well?!" Naruto yelled. "Are you going to tell me or not?!"

Hiruzen sighed again. He then a deep breath and spoke. "You hold the Kyuubi no Yoko."

Naruto's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Wh...what?"

"You heard what I said." The Kyuubi no Yoko is inside you." Hiruzen repeated.

Naruto looked at the man, then at his feet. His eyes still wide. "It...it all makes sense now. All of it. The hatred...the screaming and yelling...everything." Naruto felt tears threatening to fall. "I'm...I'm the kyuubi..."

"No you're not!" Hiruzen frowned. "Don't you dare think that!"

Naruto looked up at the Hokage, tears trickling down his cheeks. "Why?! My whole life I wondered why these villagers hated me. Now I know! It's because I killed all their loved ones!" He cried.

Hiruzen sighed. "No, Naruto. You didn't. You're not a killer."

Naruto scoffed. "Oh yeah? Says who? You?" Naruto shook his head. "Nothing you say will change what the villagers think of me." The blond said solemnly.

Hiruzen sighed. "Naruto...I need to show you something."

Naruto blinked as he watched Hiruzen reach into his robes. The old man pulled out a familiar black book. "H-Hey...that's the Hokage's journal."

Hiruzen nodded. "Indeed. There's some things you need to read."

Naruto looked at the old Hokage skeptically, but approached him and took the book. "What do I need to read?"

Hiruzen leaned over and skipped over several pages, until he stopped at his desired page. "Start here." He said softly.

Naruto frowned at the old man, but started reading. It was a passage from the Fourth Hokage...

_Today my wife has surprised me with the best news of my life. I'm going to be a father! I couldn't be more excited! I hope the baby is just like it's mother: Ramen fanatic, hot tempered, chubby cheeked, stubborn, fearless, cheerful, kind, strong...I could just go on and on about how I want our child to be. Kushina and I have decided to use her last name for the child, due to my enemy list growing each and every day. We're both hoping for a boy. If it's a boy we're going to name it after Jiraya's Tales of the Gutsy Shinobi character: Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto. I can tell...with a name like that...you're going to go places in this world. Hope to see you soon, my little Naruto._

Naruto's eyes widened. "I'm...this...is this real...?" he asked, completely dumbfounded.

Hiruzen nodded. "It is. You...are Namikaze Minato's son."

Naruto stared at the book with shock, "I'm the Fourth Hokage's son..."

Hiruzen nodded again. "There's more."

The blond blinked. "Does it have to do with the Kyuubi?"

The old Hokage nodded again. "Yes. I needed to show this to you, to explain what I'm about to show you next." The old man flipped through several more pages before stopping again.

Naruto looked at the date on the page and blinked. "This was...dated on my birthday."

Hiruzen nodded. "This passage will explain everything."

Naruto nodded and started reading again.

_Today marks one of the saddest, and most tragic days in Konohagakure's history. So much has happened within these twenty-four hours._

_The Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato and his wife, Uzumaki Kushina sacrificed themselves to seal away the Kyuubi no Yoko. I, Sarutobi Hiruzen, witnessed Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina seal the titanic beast inside their newborn son. Young Naruto now holds the most powerful biiju to roam the earth. I will do my best and uphold Minato's final wish for his son. Your son shall be viewed as the hero he was born to be. _

Naruto gazed over the rest of the words, only a few words actually registering in his brain: death, hundreds of people, Kyuubi no Yoko. Naruto looked up at the aged Hokage, tears forming in his eyes. "He...sealed him...inside me...? His...his own son?" Naruto was completely astonished. Why would he do that to him?! "How could he do this to me?!" Naruto yelled, tears now flowing freely. Naruto turned and ran from the Hokage, running back into the village.

Hiruzen had expected Naruto to be upset, but he didn't think the blonde would run. Hiruzen sighed. He had a gut feeling he had just lost the respect of his favorite spunky ninja. He sighed and made the trek back to the Hokage Tower.

.

.

That evening Naruto was sitting on the Yondaime's head, looking out over Konoha. It was his favorite place to go when he needed to think. He was still upset over everything he had just recently learned. _'How...? Why?! Why would my Otou-San seal this...this __**thing**__ inside of me?! No wonder all of the villagers despise me...It's because of that damn fox!'_

"Naruto-Kun?"

Naruto turned around and saw Hinata standing behind him. She looked concerned and worried.

"Oh...hey Hinata-Chan. Look...I don't wanna sound rude but I'm not in a good mood right now, and I kind of want to be alone." Naruto said turning away from her and looking out over the village again.

Hinata sighed. She ignored Naruto's request and moved to sit next to him. "The Hokage asked me to find you. He said you two had a misunderstanding and was sure you wouldn't want to see him right now."

Naruto scoffed. "That's the understatement of the year."

Hinata looked at her crush. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really. Like I said...I just want to be alone for a while." He said, not looking at his friend.

Hinata was disappointed. She wanted to help her crush, but if he didn't want her help, then he wouldn't get it. She stood up and turned to walk away. She gasped slightly when she felt Naruto grasp her hand. "Naruto-Kun?"

Naruto sighed. "I'll tell you. Just...give me a minute."

Hinata nodded and sat back down. After about five more minutes of silence, Naruto spoke.

"I found out why all the villagers hate me." he started. " Do you remember when we learned about how the Yondaime destroyed the Kyuubi no Yoko?" When Hinata nodded, he continued. "Well...the Kuubi wasn't destroyed."

Hinata blinked. "It wasn't? Then what happened to it?" She was thoroughly confused.

"The Kyuubi was sealed away." He explained. "Inside...me..." He hesitated.

Hinata's eyes widened. "Wh...What?"

"The Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi no Yoko inside of me...when I was a baby." Naruto was a little choked up talking about it. He was expecting Hinata to scream, run, call him a demon, or murderer like all the villagers. He wasn't expecting her to suddenly envelope him in a tight embrace. "H...Hinata-Chan?"

"I'm so sorry, Naruto-Kun!" She cried. She now understood why people called him a monster and a demon, even though Naruto was the farthest thing from one. "I'm sorry you have to bare this burden..." She said through a sob.

Naruto blinked in surprise. She...was comforting him. Even after finding out what he was! "Thank you Hinata-Chan..." Naruto returned the hug. After a few more moments of hugging, the couple separated. "Oh...There's one more thing."

Hinata blinked. "Really?"

"Don't worry. It's not necessarily a bad thing." Naruto said with a sad smile.

"What is it, Naruto-Kun?" _'You have a sad look Naruto-Kun. It has to be a bad thing.'_

"I found out who my parents were." He smiled.

Hinatas gasped. "Congratulations! Who are they?"

"Well...My Okaa-San is Uzumaki Kushina. She was the Red-Hot Habanero." Naruto chuckled.

Hinata's eyes widened. "Kushina-San was your mother?"

Naruto blinked. "Yeah...why?"

"My Okaa-San was best friends with your Okaa-San. She spoke very highly of her, and has many pictures of the two of them, with Sasuke's Okaa-San as well." Hinata explained.

Naruto's eyes widened. "Woah...that's...kinda spooky."

Hinata nodded in agreement. "What about your Otou-San? Who was he?"

Naruto took a deep breath. "Namikaze Minato. Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure." He said quietly.

Hinata's eyes widened further. "Your...Your Otou-San was...the Yondaime?" Hinata was at a loss for words. Being the child of any Hokage was an honour. But being the son of a legendary Hokage...it was more than an honour. But Naruto didn't look proud or excited. "What's the matter Naruto-Kun? Aren't you happy?"

"I'm glad I know who they are. I mean...my Otou-San is the fricken Yondaime Hokage for God's sake! But he's also the one who sealed the Kyuubi into me. How can I be happy when my Otou-San is the reason for my miserable life?"

Hinata frowned. "Is your life truly miserable, Naruto-Kun?" She then took his hand. "Yes...your past wasn't ideal. In fact...it was quite terrible. But...even when you were a child, you have people who cared: Teuchi-San, Hokage-Sama, Iruka-Sensei." Hinata listed off. "Now...you're a shinobi of Konoha. You have a team who cares about you, friends who care about you. Is your life now truly miserable?"

Naruto sighed. "No...it's not. But it's still hard to get over the fact that _my Otou-San_ sealed the Kyuubi no Yoko inside of me."

Hinata nodded. "I understand. But...maybe he didn't have a choice." When Naruto gave her a skeptic look, she elaborated. "Put yourself in your Otou-San's shoes. He couldn't choose another child for this. Asking another child's parents to have their child host such a creature...any sane parent would explode at him, even if he was the Hokage." Hinata explained. "Also...think how hard it was for him to do this. Seal the Kyuubi into his own son? It probably killed him inside."

Naruto listened and sighed. "Yeah...you're right. Since when did you become the voice of reason?" Naruto teased.

Hinata smiled and gently nudged him with her shoulder. "How do you feel now?"

"Still hurt and upset. But I understand the reasoning behind it. I think I just need to get used to the idea. Let it all sink in, you know?"

Hinata nodded. "What about Hokage-Sama?"

Naruto sighed again. "I'm upset he didn't tell me. I mean...he let me grow up as an orphan without knowing who my parents were, _**and**_he knew why I was being tormented for all those years. I mean...yeah...I understand why he didn't want me to know about the Kyuubi, but I still would have liked to know. I'm not the demon. I just happen to have it living inside my stomach." Naruto said, trying to make a joke out of it.

Hinata giggled. "I understand Naruto-Kun. I think you should just cool off and let it all calm down before approaching the Hokage-Sama."

Naruto nodded. "You're right. Now...all this information and moping has made me hungry! Ichiraku's?"

Hinata laughed. "Wouldn't want to go anywhere else."

.

.

.

The next day, Team 7 met at their usual training grounds. Naruto hadn't slept well that night. He was coming to terms with what his father did and had forgiven him for what happened. But he still wasn't ready to forgive the Third Hokage for not telling him anything all these years. He also wanted to talk to Gaara about being a biiju. He had so many questions that only Gaara could answer. As he thought about what he could say to the Suna Nin, Kakashi arrived in his tardy manner.

"Sorry I'm late team. I saw a little old lady who-"

"Save it, Sensei. We've heard all of your lame excuses." Naruto sighed. "I thought Kurenai-Sensei was supposed to be helping you with that." Naruto said, eying his sensei.

Kakashi blushed, though it couldn't be seen through his mask. "She has her own team to watch over, Naruto. She can't be there every morning."

"Ooooooh! So she comes and wakes you up every morning?" Naruto waggled his eyebrows. Naruto felt Sasuke's fist connect with the back of his head. "OW! What was that for?!"

"To shut you up, Dobe." Sasuke said, matter-of-factly.

Hinata giggled as Naruto pouted. "So Kakashi-Sensei, what are we doing today?" She asked.

Kakashi cleared his throat and spoke. "We're actually going to train for the Chuunin exams. I've entered you three. ' He said with his "U" eye.

Naruto gasped. "Wait...we're going to actually test for Chuunin?"

Hinata blinked. "Are you sure we're ready, Sensei? Don't you think it's too soon?" She was slightly nervous. No first year Genin had ever participated in the Chuunin exams.

Kakashi nodded. "Indeed. I want you three to work on your teamwork more than anything. The more in sync you are, the more you'll excel in the exams."

"Can you tell us anything about the exam?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi thought a moment and shrugged. "I can't tell you all the details, but I can tell you what you have to do. The Exam starts with a written test." He saw Naruto immediately start to sweat. "Then...it's usually a survival test, and it ends with a sparring match." Kakashi said with a nod.

"Why is teamwork so important?" Hinata asked. "I know you stress teamwork personally, but why do we need to work on it for the exams?"

Kakashi smirked at his team. "Just trust me when I say teamwork is key. I've seen too many teams end up dead because they were lacking as a team. I want you three to excel."

Naruto blinked. "Wait...do people die during the Chuunin exams?"

Kakashi nodded. "Don't worry, Naruto. I have a feeling you three will be just fine."

"Oh yeah...cuz that's comforting." Naruto mumbled.

Kakashi chuckled. "Alright team. Let's get to work."

.

.

.

After a grueling day of training, Naruto was sitting at Ichiraku's with his teammates. "Man...I needed this." Naruto said before slurping down more noodles.

Hinata giggled. "I know, Naruto-Kun. Kakashi-Sensei worked us hard today."

Sasuke nodded in agreement. "But it'll be worth it. Tomorrow we go in for our first part of the Chuunin Exams."

Naruto frowned. "Yeah...the written part. Whoopee." Naruto grumbled sarcastically.

Sasuke was about to speak when he heard the ever-so annoying voice call out his name. "SASUKE-KUN!"

Sasuke stared at his steaming hot ramen wondering if it was better to deal with Sakura or dive head first into the steaming bowl. He decided dealing with Sakura was the lesser of two pains. He turned around and frowned. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to have dinner with me!" She smiled brightly.

"Why would I? I'm already eating, and I'd rather eat in their company than yours." He said turning back around and faced his food.

Sakura frowned. "But Sasuke-kun! Why do you want to eat with this monster?!" Sakura said crossing her arms over her chest.

Naruto went rigid but quickly relaxed so his discomfort wouldn't show.

Sasuke turned around and faced Sakura with his Sharingan activated. "You know nothing, Sakura!" He yelled. Sasuke had been told Naruto's secret right after training. Naruto felt it was only right to tell him if Hinata knew. "How dare you call Naruto that!"

Sakura gasped and took a few steps back, scared of Sasuke's intimidating appearance. "S-Sasuke-Kun..."

Hinata stood up and approached Sakura. "Sakura...you have done nothing but hurt Naruto, both mentally and physically. If anyone is a monster here, it's you. You've done nothing but punch him, put him down, and treat him like he's less than a human being. Naruto is not the monster, Sakura. You are."

Naruto stood up next to his friends, smirking. "I would leave, Sakura. You aren't going to win this fight. Especially with how weak you are."

Sakura gasped. She looked at the team, and felt tears spill down her cheeks. She turned and ran from the them.

Naruto sighed in relief. "Thanks guys. Ramen's on me tonight."

The three smiled at each other and resumed their meal.

.

.

.

After the dinner fiasco, Naruto was walking around the village. He needed to do something, and he was a little nervous about it. So he was seeking out the one person who could help him. After searching the village for a good hour, he found him. He was sitting on a rooftop, looking out over the village. Naruto leaped up to the roof, walking up to the boy.

"I'm surprised you sought me out so soon, Uzumaki." Came the husky voice.

Naruto sighed. "You're the only one who has answers for me. And I want them answered honestly."

Gaara smirked and turned around. "Ask any question you wish."

Naruto nodded and spoke. "Are you a jiinchuriki?"

Gaara chuckled. "Indeed I am. I host the Ichibi no Shukaku; a monster tanuki." He smirked.

Naruto blinked. _'The One-Tailed Racoon?Well that explains his appearance.' _Naruto nodded at the information. "Why did you tell me about the Kyuubi?"

"I didn't tell you about the Kyuubi. I simply pointed out you were a jiinchuriki. I didn't know which biiju you hosted." Gaara smirked.

Naruto went rigid. _'Shit. I didn't mean to give myself away.'_ Naruto straightened out and cleared his throat. "You still haven't answered my question. Why did you tell me?"

Gaara chuckled. "I have my reasons." He stated bluntly.

Naruto frowned. _'Looks like I'm not going to be getting any answers from him.'_ He sighed and turned from the jiinchuriki. "Well...since you're not going to answer my questions, I'm leaving." Naruto walked away from Gaara, not bothering to look back at him.

Gaara watched the retreating blond, looking slightly upset. _'Why? Why are you so much different than me?' _

_._

_._

_._

"Are you ready guys?" Naruto asked, his fists clenched in determination. Team 7 was standing outside of the Academy, ready to go in and take the first test.

Hinata and Sasuke nodded. Naruto smiled at his team. "Alright guys! Let's go in."

Hinata nodded. "What room is it in, again?"

"301." Sasuke said. "Come on. Let's go in and find decent seating."

"Do you think there will be a lot of Genin?" Hinata asked curiously.

"Well...If the other new Genin are there, then that's nine of us. Then last year's Genin, and maybe even older ones." Naruto said. "So...I think so."

Team 7 walked inside the Academy and climbed the stairs until they came to a group of Genin standing in front of room 301. They were huddled around something. Team 7 approached and saw Sakura looking down at a strange looking boy. Sakura looked flustered and bright red.

Hinata instantly recognized the strange boy and moved towards him. "Lee-San! Are you alright?" Hinata said, helping this Lee person up.

Lee wore a green spandex suit with orange leg warmers. His hands and arms were tightly wrapped with bandages, and he wore his hitai-ate around his wait. But his outfit wasn't the strangest part of him. He had very profound round eyes, with prominent eye-lashes at the bottom of them. He was sporting a bowl shaped hair cut, and had very large, square-shaped, black eyebrows. Overall...he was a very bizarre looking boy.

Lee looked up at Hinata and smiled. "Oh Hinata-hime! It is so wonderful to see you. I am most alright. The Flames of Youth has lead me to the most beautiful flower." He said looking up at Sakura.

Hinata helped Lee up, then glared at Sakura. "You just can't be nice to anyone, can you?"

Sakura gasped. "I can be nice!"

"Name one person you are nice too." Sakura opened her mouth to reply, but Hinata cut her off. "That _isn't_ Sasuke."

Sakura's mouth quickly closed. After a few moments of thinking, she couldn't come up with anything.

"Uh-huh. That's what I thought." She turned back to Lee and smiled. "I think you should join your team, Lee-San."

Lee sighed. "Alright." He noticed Neji and Ten Ten looking rather annoyed with Lee him and Sakura's embarrassing display. He walked over to them and bowed. "Forgive me, friends! The Flames of Youth were burning too brightly to extinguish."

Ten Ten rolled her eyes. "It's okay, Lee. Next time...just don't waste your time with that banshee."

"HEY!" Sakura exclaimed.

It was Neji's turn to roll his eyes. "Silence yourself, Sakura. You are making a fool of yourself." He looked over to Hinata and nodded.

Hinata nodded at Neji, then turned back to Sakura. "Get over yourself Sakura, you have a terrible attitude."

"I do not!" She yelled.

Naruto sighed and stepped up towards Hinata. "Look around you, Sakura. No one here is willing to back you up. Not even your own team."

Sakura looked around her. Everyone was glaring and frowning at her. Her eyes first landed on Sasuke. They were filled with disgust, and it sent a sharp pain to her chest. She saw Kiba and Shino standing away from the group, ignoring Sakura's temper-tantrum. Sakura felt a sense of dread come over her. Her eyes scanned the group again and saw Ino glaring back at her. No...not quite a glare. It was more a look of...disappointment. Ino was her rival; as a kunoichi and for capturing Sasuke's heart. _'She...she looks like she's...embarrassed to know me...'_ Sakura thought.

"You put people down. You hurt them physically and emotionally. You choose to fight for a crush instead of fighting for your team." Naruto could see his words start to sink into Sakura's thick skull. "You used to be a top kunoichi in our class, Sakura, but now what are you? A stupid girl who refuses to see what's important."

Sakura's eyes widened as she stared at the blond. His words struck like a kunai to the heart. Naruto wasn't that stupid, hyperactive boy that would do anything to get a date with her. Now...he was taking life seriously.

Sakura scanned the crowd again. Many of the people were still glaring at her, but her eyes caught Ino's. Ino looked a little sad, like she was upset that they weren't friends anymore. Sakura tore her eyes away from Ino and looked towards Kiba and Shino. She looked at them and saw Kiba looking indifferently at her. Shino looked just as emotionless as he always did. _'They're right. I...I have lost sight of what's important.'_ Sakura sighed then moved through the crowd to rejoin her team. _'Maybe...I can start with my team. I can show them that I'm serious about being a kunoichi and serious about our team. And...how serious I am about being a chuunin.' _

Sakura looked up at Shino and Kiba, looking quite embarrassed. "I'm sorry..."

Kiba and Shino looked at each other before looking back at Sakura. Their expressions softened, even if it was barely noticeable on Shino. No words had to be exchanged between Team 8.

Hinata had rejoined the boys and smiled. "Shall we go?"

Naruto laughed. "Really, Hinata-Chan? You just totally told of Sakura, and you're just gunna go about your day like it was nothing?" He saw Hinata blush with embarrassment and he laughed more. _'You're so cute, Hinata-Chan...cute? Did I really just think...yeah...I did...'_ Naruto blushed at his thought.

Sasuke blinked at his two teammates; they were both red. "Okay...so...are we going?" He said pointing through the stairs.

Team 7 started towards the stairs, when Ino stopped them. "Uh, where are you guys going? Room 301 is right here." She said pointing to said room.

"No it's not." Naruto said with a shrug.

Ten Ten blinked. "What? But it says 301 right here."

"How many stairs did you guys walk up?" Sasuke asked.

"One." Ino bluntly stated.

Shikamaru sighed. "How troublesome. That means we're on the second floor. Now we have to walk another flight of stairs."

Neji spoke. "A genjutsu. They must've placed one on this floor to weed out the Genin who couldn't see passed it."

Naruto chuckled. "Well? You guys gunna climb some stairs or not?" He gave the group of Genin a bright smile.

The Genin looked at Naruto and followed the blond up the flight of stairs. They all walked into the right room this time, and saw quite a few people sitting at the desks.

"Woah..." Naruto blinked. "There's a lot of people in here."

Hinata nodded. "I didn't think there would be this many." She looked around the room and noticed that there were quite a few older Genin in the classroom.

"How long do you think they've been testing?" Sasuke asked.

"Too long if you ask me." Naruto seemed a little worried. If there were older Genin here, than the Chuunin Exams were going to be a lot harder than he thought.

As Naruto contemplated the difficulty of the Chuunin Exams, a rather bulky and intimidating Shinobi burst through the door. The man had two prominent scars on his face, and looked cold and calculating. He wore a hitai-ate bandana over his head, dark gray clothing, and a black trenchcoat. "Alright you maggots! Take your seats!"

Everyone scrambled to the nearest seat. Once everyone was seated, the man spoke again. "Listen up you low-lifes! My name is Morino Ibiki, Head of Interrogation, and your proctor for the first test!" He hollered. He reached into his his trench coat and pulled out a large pile of papers. "I hold your future in this hand." He waved the papers to-and-fro. "You much answer _all_ ten questions to even consider moving to the second test." He said handing out the papers.

"But...Morino-San...there's only nine questions on this test." Sakura said nervously.

Ibiki turned around and eyed Sakura. "Correct. You'll see nine questions on the paper, with ten answer boxes. I will vocally give you the tenth question after a certain amount of time as passed." He explained harshly.

Naruto smirked. He might have been bad at test, but this test couldn't be to hard. He peered at the test and he immediately started to sweat. The questions weren't something a Genin would know! They had to be Chunin level questions, if not higher!

"Oh...one more thing, you little crap buckets! We have rules! The rules are: There is a point system. There are ten points to this test. If you answer questions incorrectly, you lose points. And you must answer all the questions to pass! This is a team test! If one of you fails, you all fail! And finally...and the most important rule...you get caught cheating...you and your team fail!" He hollered. "I have two associates here to help me catch any cheaters among you miserable lot!"

Naruto felt his heart drop to his stomach. _'Oh...I am so screwed...'_

**End Chapter**

**So? Tell me what you think in a Review! Thank you!**

**~Lu Lu-Chan**


	12. The First Test

**The First Test**

**Here it is! Finally! I'm so sorry for the late chapter! I've had these last few months really hectic with school and work. Not to mention I honestly was bored with this chapter. After the conversation with the Kyuubi, I felt really bored and didn't want to continue with this chapter, so this chapter will be somewhat short. Sorry! Anyways Enjoy!**

**A special thanks to my bestest friend Chibiusa for editing this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!**

**PS! I added a small part that I forget to put in! Very small part, but I couldn't help it!**

**Enjoy!**

_'I'm screwed. I am so...so screwed.'_ Naruto could feel his mouth dry up, and sweat bead down his face. He looked around the room and sawa lot of nervous faces. _'Okay...so I'm not the only one who's nervous.'_ He let out a sigh, then turned back to the intimidating Jounin.

Ibiki scanned over the Genin before speaking. "All right you maggots! The test starts now! You have one hour!" Ibiki pressed the timer button and watched as the students began their test.

Naruto clenched his pencil in his fist, reading over the first question. _'Okay...don't know this one. Next question...don't know that one either...or that one...ooooooor that one. Crap...I don't know any of these damn questions!'_ Naruto sighed a little too loudly, and Ibiki called him out.

"No sighing!" he hollered.

Naruto jumped and focused on his test. _'How am I supposed to answer these questions? No Genin would know any of the answers!'_ He sighed again, quieter this time, and looked up at the ceiling. He nearly screamed when he saw an eyeball above him.

_'What the hell?!'_ Naruto panicked. He looked around to see if anyone else had seen the eyeball. Then he noticed something strange. Hinata had her Byakugan activated. And not just Hinata, but Neji did too. He turned to his left and saw Sasuke's Sharingan activated. Ino was using her **Mind Transfer Jutsu**, Shino's bugs were scurrying around his paper, and Akamaru was scanning the crowd for Kiba. He noticed Gaara holding his face, where his left eye should be. Naruto shivered. '_Is...is that...**Gaara's** eye?! That all seeing eye is too weird.'_

He scanned the room again. Everyone seemed to be doing their own form of cheating.

_'What are they doing?! If they get caught cheating they'll be-' _Then it hit him. _'**If** they get caught cheating! There's no way we can answer these questions. These questions aren't just intelligence based, they're experienced based as well.'_ Naruto was proud of himself for understanding the actual test, but now he was faced with another problem.

_'How the hell am I supposed to cheat?'_ Now he was really panicking. He didn't have a special justu like Gaara's weird eyeball thing, or a dojutsu like Hinata or Sasuke. Naruto was about to start looking around, to try and figure out who he could cheat from when a kunai went whizzing passed his head. Naruto gulped and turned to where to kunai landed.

The kunai was imbedded in the desk behind him, piercing through someone's test. The Genin growled. "What the hell was that for?!" he yelled.

"You've been caught cheating five times." Ibiki smirked. "That means you and your team...are out." He chuckled. "Time for you to leave."

The boy's eyes widened as he slowly got up. He and his team did the walk of shame as they exited the test room.

Ibiki chuckled again. "One team down."

Naruto swallowed and quickly turned to his test. _'Okay...no cheating for me.'_ He didn't know what to do. He was a terrible cheater. He sighed and stared at his test one more time before deciding what to do. _'Whelp...might as well go to my default.'_ He took a deep breath and began working on his test.

An hour had passed before the timer went off. Everyone stopped writing and looked up at Ibiki. "Alright, you sorry lot! It's time for the tenth question." Ibiki straightened up and scanned the crowd. "Before I say the tenth question, there are a few more rules we need to go over." A dark smirk crept up on the intimidating Jounin's face.

"More rules?!" Naruto blurted out. He then shrunk back when Ibiki turned and glared at him.

"What are these new rules?" Kankuro spoke up.

The dark smirk from earlier, returned. "The rules of desperation."

Everyone let out a silent sigh of relief. _'At least it isn't a torture test.'_ Hinata thought to herself.

Ibiki scanned the classroom and spoke. ""First rule: You must decide if you want to answer the tenth question. If you don't answer it, your test will be scored as a zero." He chuckled. Many of the Genin who had opened their mouths to ask for the question quickly closed their mouths.

Everyone looked quite nervous now.

"Last...for the other and final rule..." Ibiki took a deep breath and smirked. "If you choose to answer the question...but answer it incorrectly...you will not be able to take the Chuunin exams again. Ever."

Naruto jumped up and growled. "You can't do that!" he yelled. "You can't stop us from trying to test again!"

Ibiki frowned. "Oh? And what makes you think that I can't?"

Naruto smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "You aren't the Hokage. And unless the Old Man himself walks in and says those are the rule, I refuse to believe you." He sat back down, proud of his rebuttal.

Ibiki sighed. "You stupid boy." Ibiki smirked. "Who do you think approved my rules for the Chuunin Exams? The Hokage himself chose the proctors specifically for each test. Which also means...he approved our rules." He saw Naruto's demeanor change from proud to horrified. "You always could just quit." He chuckled.

Before Naruto could speak, he heard a shaky voice behind him. "I quit."

Everyone turned and saw a brown haired Genin from Iwagakure. "I quit." He repeated. "I...I can't do this."

Ibiki chuckled. "Then you and your team are disqualified from the exams. You can leave."

The Genin turned to his teammates, who looked disappointed. "Sorry guys..." he apologized and the team left the classroom.

From there, it was like a domino effect. Genin were raising their hands and quitting the test one after the other.

"They're dropping like flies..." Sakura said softly. Over half the Genin had left.

Many of the remaining Genin nodded in agreement.

Naruto shook his head. He scanned the faces of the remaining Genin, and they all looked nervous, with the exception of Gaara. _'How can he not be nervous? How can he be so confident in himself?'_ Naruto's eyes widened a moment. _'That's it. Everyone just needs a burst of confidence.'_ Naruto smirked in determination. He slammed his palms on his desk and shot up out of his seat.

"You know what?" Naruto shouted. "I'm not going to sit here and let you intimidate me into quitting." He smirked.

Everyone turned and stared at the blond, who was acting crazier than usual. Sasuke sunk in his seat and hid his eyes from the crowd. _'This idiot is gunna get us disqualified...' _

Hinata stared at her crush, unsure of his motives. _'What are you doing Naruto? You could get in trouble...'_

Ibiki looked bored. "Is that all you have to say?"

"No. No it's not. I'm confident in my skills to pass your stupid test. In fact...I'm going to pass all these tests! And if I don't, fine! I'll still be Hokage! Whatever rank I am...I will be Hokage! And you nor any of these other jerks will stop me from my dream!" He adopted a proud and confident smirk.

The Genin stared at Naruto, and felt a new sense of confidence. Maybe he was right. You could be a great shinobi, even as a Genin. They all turned back to Ibiki and gave him a confident smirk, ready for the final question.

Ibiki sighed and shook his head. "I guess there's only one thing left to do then." He looked at the blond and returned the smirk. "Congratulations brat. You all passed."

The room was so quiet you could hear a needle drop. "What...?" Naruto asked.

"There was no tenth question." Ibiki chuckled. "No matter how desperate a situation might get, you can't give up." Ibiki explained. "The purpose of the tenth question was to see if you were going to give up when you were desperate. Since you guys remained, you pass."

Naruto whooped and holler, throwing his fists in the air. "Aaaaaw yeah! That's much closer to Hokage baby!"

Sasuke sighed. "Calm down, Dobe. We're all excited, but we aren't embarrassing ourselves."

Naruto turned to the Uchiha and flipped him off. "Screw you, Duck-Butt."

Everyone stared as Sasuke only growled and crossed his arms over his chest. Naruto grinned, but his grin quickly left when there was a loud crash and a foot slamming into his face.

The Genin's eyes went from the injured Naruto, to the purple haired bomb-shell that had just crash landed in the classroom. "Alright you maggots, listen up! The name's Mitarashi Anko and I'm your proctor for the next test." She smirked.

Everyone stared at the purple-haired Jounin with wide eyes. Ibiki sighed and shook his hair at the woman. "Anko...was it really necessary to break through my wall?"

Anko turned to Ibiki and scoffed. "Just because you don't know how to make an entrance, doesn't mean I shouldn't."

Naruto stood up from the rubble and dusted himself off. "Hey Psycho!"

Anko turned to the blond and smirked. "Hey Brat! How's my Iruka-Kun doing? I heard about what you did to him during the Genin test at the Academy. Very nice." She winked. Anko noticed the new Konoha Genin flushing red, remembering Naruto's little transformation. "Get your minds out of the gutter!" She yelled.

Naruto laughed at the Jounin and his classmates. While he might not be friends with this Jounin, she was pretty cool.

Anko smirked at Naruto, then turned to the others. "Let's see...30 teams? Ibiki...you're going soft." Anko pouted.

Ibiki grumbled. "Shut up, Anko. This group of Genin are some of the best I've ever seen." he said with a smirk, looking particularly at Naruto.

Anko looked from Naruto, to Ibiki, then around the classroom. "Seriously? Whatever you say, Softy." Anko smirked. She heard Ibiki grumble more before laughing. "Alright you lot. Meet me at Training Grounds 44 at 8:00 AM sharp! If you don't...well..." She chuckled. "Just make sure you're there." In a swirl of leaves, Anko vanished.

Naruto sighed. "I have no idea what Iruka-Sensei sees in her..." he said with a shake of his head. He turned to his teammates. "Dinner?"

Hinata smiled. "Where do you want to go, Naruto-kun? Ichiraku?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No! We've had ramen three times this week. Let's get some barbeque."

Naruto looked a little apprehensive, but agreed. "Alright. Let's go."

Hinata saw the look that cross Naruto's face. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and gave him a soft smile. "It's okay, Naruto-kun."

Naruto sighed, then smiled back. "Thanks Hinata-chan."

.

.

Ibiki walked around the room collecting everyone's tests, when he stopped at Naruto's. He looked down at the test and frowned. _'That damn brat!'_

On Naruto's test was a picture of himself laying on the ground, with Naruto standing on him wearing the Hokage's Robes, cheering in victory.

Ibiki sighed, a chuckle soon followed after. "Well played kid. Well played."

.

.

The trio walked into the restaurant and sat down at a nearby table. When the waiter came to their table, he frowned at the team, mainly at Naruto.

"Is there something we can help you with?" Sasuke spat. "Or are you going to do your job and help us?"

The waiter was taken back by Sasuke's insult and composed himself. "What can I get for you?" He asked as he bit back an insult.

"The standard platter." Sasuke stated bluntly. Naruto and Hinata nodded in agreement.

The waiter took their order and walked back into the kitchen. Naruto sighed and stared at the hot grill in front of them. "Guys...I'm really sorry. I mean...I understand why they hate me now but...I wish they wouldn't take it out on you guys."

Sasuke sighed. "Well...if they want our money, they better get used to you."

Naruto wasn't sure what to say. "I'm not sure whether to take that as an insult or compliment." Then he chuckled. "Thanks Sasuke...I think."

Sasuke smirked and soon the team fell into easy conversation. When their food came out, the waiter practically dropped the food in front of them and left. The team glared at their water and then turned to the food. Naruto proceeded to smell the pork and the beef before moving to the vegetables. He moved away from the food and blinked.

"What's the matter, Naruto-kun? Is it rotten again?" Hinata blinked.

"No...it's all safe." He smiled brightly.

With smiles, the team began putting all the food over the barbeque pit. They ate their meal, and talked about the upcoming test. "Naruto...you're an idiot. The next test is _**not**_ a ramen eating contest." Sasuke groaned.

Naruto pouted and nibbled on a piece of pork. "Well if it was...I'd totally kill it."

Hinata giggled. "It has to be a survival test. We're having the test in the Forest of Death."

Sasuke nodded. "I agree. After dinner we should stock up on weapons."

The others nodded, and continued to eat. After they ate and paid for their meal, they walked to Ten Ten's family weapon shop. It was the only shop that would let Naruto buy sharp and non-defective weapons, and their prices were the most affordable for new Genin.

"Ten Ten!" Naruto waved. "Hows it goin?" 

The brown haired genin, who was leaning against the register, smiled. "Hi guys. I'm sure you're not here for just a visit."

Hinata shook her head. "No. We're here to purchase some new weapons."

Ten Ten chuckled. "You came to the right place! Pick whatever you want!"

They browsed, picking up shuriken, kunai, and some exploding tags. Ten Ten watched them and smirked. "So...what do you think our test going to be?"

"Survival." Naruto said bluntly as he picked up some trip wire. "That's why we're here." he smiled back at Ten Ten. "Your team will do awesome too. Don't worry, Ten Ten."

The older Genin chuckled. "Thanks, Naruto." She made idle chit-chat with them while they continued to shop. They bought their weapons, and left the store waving goodbye to Ten-Ten.

Hinata smiled at her teammates. "I think I'm going to go home now. I'm sure my father wants to talk to me about these exams." She said making a face.

Naruto chuckled. "Don't worry Hinata-Chan. If you dad gives you trouble, just let me know. I'll knock some sense into him."

Hinata giggled. "Thanks, Naruto-Kun. Goodnight." She bowed to her friends and walked home.

Sasuke shrugged and turned to Naruto. "I'm gunna head home too. I want to mentally prepare myself for tomorrows exam."

Naruto nodded. "Alright. See ya, Sasuke." The two teammates said their goodbyes and walked to their own houses.

Naruto walked into his apartment and quickly went to work preparing for the test in the morning. He grabbed several sealing scrolls and sealed away his new weapons, along with an extra pair of clothes, his toothbrush and toothpaste, and his special sleeping cap. He grabbed the scrolls and put them in his weapons pouch. After packing, Naruto showered and got ready for bed.

.

.

_'Where...am I?'_ _Naruto woke up to the sound of dripping. He looked around and realized that he was laying in a large puddle of water. He stood up and noticed that he was in some sort of sewer. Naruto frowned. 'What is this place?' Against his better judgment, Naruto started walking._

_The silence of the sewer combined with the occasional dripping and his wet footsteps, was eerie. He was scared and disturbed. As he walked, he heard a soft, but menacing cackle. The noise was enough to make him freeze. _

"_**I can smell you. human. There's no use in running."** _

_Naruto swallowed hard. 'Well...there goes that plan.' he thought. Naruto took a deep breath and continued forward. After a few more minutes of walking, he came to a very large, sealed cage with two very large eyes staring at him. _

_Naruto gulped and stared at the eyes in shock. "What...are you?" Naruto shook with fear when he saw a massive sharp-toothed grin appear below the eyes._

"_**Stupid human. Use that measly brain you were given and think."** The dark voice chuckled._

_Naruto stared at the eyes and teeth, almost afraid to think. But as soon as the cogs started turning, it hit him like a ton of bricks. _"_Kyuubi..."_

_The Kyuubi chuckled, then smirked at the blond. **"Correct human. I'm surprised,****you took your time to visit me."**_

"_I didn't take my time—Wait...what?" Naruto was confused. _

"_**I'm not going to repeat myself human."** He growled._

_Naruto stared at the giant face. "You were waiting for me to visit? Why would I visit you?"_

"_**I reside in you, you incompetent baboon." **The fox spat._

_Naruto frowned. "Hey! I am not a monkey!" he yelled. _

"_**Hmm...you have some spirit, even staring into the face of death."**_

_Naruto blinked. "You're...behind a cage. You can't really kill me." He heard the Kyuubi give a low growl. "Listen, not that I don't love standing here making fun of you, but what do you want?"_

_Kyuubi chuckled. **"You have guts, brat. I'll give you that. But you are here because I summoned you."**_

_Naruto blinked. "You...summoned me?How?"_

"_**While this may be your mind, I do reside in it."** He stated bluntly. Naruto accepted the answer and let Kyuubi continue. **"I've been watching your life unfold since my sealing, and I must say...you surprise me."**_

_Naruto was confused. "I surprise you? How?"_

"_**You aren't like the Shukaku host." **Kyuubi explained. **"You didn't let hatred and misery consume you. You allowed their hatred to fuel your ambition to become Hokage. A stupid position, if I may add. You are one of three people who have earned my respect." **He saw Naruto's eyes widen to dinner plates. **"Don't flatter yourself. The respect you have from me is merely a sliver."**_

_Naruto stuck his tongue out at the fox, but then smirked. "Thanks. Not gunna lie, never thought I'd be having a one-on-one conversation with you."_

"_**Agreed."**_

_Naruto stared at the Kyuubi for a moment and spoke. "Can I ask you something?"_

"_**If you must."**_

"_What happened in Wave? I didn't remember anything until Sasuke called out my name." Naruto sighed. "I remember seeing Haku on the ground, and I was initially shocked. But because of the situation, I was kinda brought out of it quickly."_

_Kyuubi nodded. **"I understand. My chakra consumed you."**_

_Naruto swallowed hard. "I could've killed Haku, and I couldn't even control it."_

"_**Then you must learn." **He stated. **"You must learn to hone my power so you won't lose control again."**_

_Naruto stared at the Kyuubi like a gaping fish. "You're telling me...I should learn to use your power?" Then he frowned at the beast. "What's the catch?"_

"_**For now...nothing. But that doesn't mean I won't ask for a favor or two down the road." **Kyuubi chuckled._

_Naruto stared at the fox skeptically. "I'm not sure I can trust you."_

_Kyuubi laughed. **"It'd be wise not to. There's a reason we foxes are called sly and cunning."**_

_Naruto sighed. "Alright. I want to learn. But only so I can protect my friends and the village, not because I want power."_

"_**If you were out for power, I wouldn't be making you this offer."** Kyuubi smirked. **"But it will not be easy. In fact, the first few days of training will take a toll on your body. You'll be sluggish and won't preform in top shape."**_

_Naruto nodded. "Alright. When should we start?" _

_The Kyuubi thought for a moment. **"I suggest after you survive the** **forest. I have witnessed your exams through my other hosts, and you will have time before your next test to train." **Naruto nodded and Kyuubi spoke again. **"Now...I suggest returning to the real world. It's nearly morning and you have a test you need to survive."**_

_Naruto nodded and smirked. "See ya, Fuzzball." He waved and retreated from the large fox._

_Kyuubi sat in his cell with an unamused expression. **"How original."** Kyuubi sighed. **'That brat is just like his mother.' **_

.

.

Naruto's eyes slowly blinked open and he noticed that it was barely sunrise. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair. Despite talking with Kyuubi in his mind, he felt surprisingly rested. He looked out the window at the purple and pink clouds. He stretched and climbed out of bed.

"**_Are you ready for today?" _**

Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin. "What the-?! Kyuubi! How are you talking to me?" He asked looking around his bedroom.

Kyuubi chuckled. _**"Once you've initiated contact with me in your mind, I'm able to to communicate with you. Telepathically, of course."**_

Naruto sighed. "Alright. As for today...I think I am. I think I'm prepared for this test."

"_**Good. Because you need to be. This test is going to be nothing you've ever experienced."**_

~**End Chapter**

**So? What did you guys think? Sorry for the late post! Review Please!**


	13. A Cold-Hearted Snake

**Hey everyone! It's here! Lucky Chapter Number 13! Sorry it took so long for it to get posted. I've been super busy and I've started writing other stories, mainly personal ones that I probably won't post. And I've kinda got major writer's block and lost interest in writing this chapter. Just fyi this chapter is a little shorter than what I usually write, but I finished it where I wanted to. Honestly...this is what I wanted my chapter to be, and I'm pretty happy with it! So I hope you enjoy!**

**A special thanks to my beta/editor/best friend Chibiusa! Thanks babycakes!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!**

**A Cold-Hearted Snake**

Naruto made his way towards Training Ground 44, recalling his meeting with the Kyuubi. _'I can't believe that I actually talked to him...it just doesn't seem real.'_ Naruto thought. _'I wonder if I should tell Hinata-Chan and Sasuke.' _Naruto looked up at the early morning sky and sighed.

"_**Get your head in the game, brat. You can't day dream during this test."**_Kyuubi growled.

_'I'm not in the test right now. I'm going to the test. Besides, I don't have to listen to you yet. You aren't teaching me anything.'_ Naruto smirked.

"_**Perhaps, but I have attended these tests before in other hosts. If you wish to live, you will listen to me."**_ Kyuubi growled.

Naruto frowned. _'Man...are you always this crabby?'_ Naruto snickered when he heard Kyuubi growl. _'Okay, okay. Is this test really that deadly?'_

"**_It is, brat. I've seen many shinobi killed in these tests- and you brats even go out of your way to not kill each other."_**The Kyuubi scoffed. **_"Pathetic in my opinion."_**

Naruto frowned. '_It's not pathetic. Is killing really necessary? I mean...like Haku. Did she really deserve death?"_

"**_What about the short fat man that hired her? Does he deserve death?"_** Kyuubi waited for Naruto to give him an answer. He chuckled when the blond didn't give him one. **_"See? Dying is a part of nature; whether it's by natural causes or by the hand of another." _**

Naruto frowned. '_I don't want to kill. I don't like it.'_

"_**As I said, it's a part of life: you're going to have to kill if you wish to survive in this world and become Hokage." **_

Naruto remained silent for the rest of the walk. When he reached the training grounds, he smiled when he saw Sasuke and Hinata waiting for him. _'I'm going to tell them.'_

"_**Are you sure that's wise? They may have taken me residing in you well, but do you think they'll be okay with you talking to me?" **_

_'Well...'_ Naruto thought for a moment. _'I'm going to tell them anyways. I'm not going to keep secrets from them.'_ Naruto thought firmly. He walked over to his teammates, took a deep breath, and spoke. "I can talk to the Kyuubi." He said low enough so only they could hear.

Hinata and Sasuke looked at the blond and blinked. "Well hello to you too, Dobe."

Naruto frowned. "I'm not kidding, Sasuke! I really can talk to him."

"How?" Hinata asked.

"I can do it because I was able to tap into Kyuubi's power when we were in Wave. He contacted me in my mind first, and I've been able to talk to him since. But it has only been a day...maybe it'll stop." He smiled.

"**_Not happening."_** Kyuubi chimed in.

A pout appeared on Naruto's face. When Hinata and Sasuke gave the blond a confused look, Naruto elaborated. "Kyuubi told me he wasn't going to stop talking to me."

Hinata and Sasuke nodded, though they still looked somewhat confused by the whole concept.

"Alright you pathetic lot!" Came Anko's loud voice. "I have two scrolls. Each team will only get one scroll, but you need both scrolls by the end of the test." She smirked.

"So that means we have to fight another team for their scroll." Sasuke whispered to his team. The team watched Anko explain the rules of the test, when a rather strange looking grass shinobi moved towards Anko.

Anko, feeling the presence of someone nearby, looked over her shoulder and saw the bizarre ninja. "Eager to get started, are we?" Anko smirked.

"You have no idea." The ninja smirked. The man opened his mouth and his tongue extended out and wrapped around one of the scrolls.

Anko pulled out a kunai and pressed it against the tongue. "Didn't your mother ever tell you that sticking your tongue out at people is rude." She said in a sickeningly sweet tone.

The man chuckled and retracted his snake length tongue, the scroll being held by his teeth.

Anko glared at the man, then turned to the rest of the genin. "Alright brats! Line up and get your scrolls.

Naruto got in line with the other shinobi, and when he got up to Anko, he accepted his scroll with a smile. "Thanks, Anko."

"Listen to me, Naruto." She said, getting real serious. "Iruka wanted me to warn you about this place. This forest is beyond dangerous, especially during the chuunin exams."

"How dangerous?"

"In here...the only people you can trust is yourself and your team. You can't trust any of the other teams from Konoha. These tests are meant to wean out the weakest links. And it's not just the people you'll come across, but there are animals and other creatures that will tear you limb from limb if you aren't careful."

Naruto blinked. "Do you really think any of the other Konoha teams will try and kill us?"

Anko shook her head. "No...I don't think the other Konoha teams will try, but I'm sure other village teams will."

Naruto nodded. "Thanks, Anko. Take care of Iruka-Sensei for me." He winked.

Anko laughed. "Oh, don't worry, brat. I'll take real good care of him." She winked back.

Naruto jogged back to his team and showed them their scroll. "We have the "Earth" scroll. So we need to find a team that has the "Heaven" scroll."

Hinata nodded. "What did Anko-Sensei say to you, Naruto-kun?"

"She wants us to be very careful. We can't trust anyone here, not even our fellow Konoha Genin. Other teams will try to kill us for our scroll."

Sasuke frowned. "Wonderful." He grumbled sarcastically.

"Do you think we can't trust our classmates, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked worriedly.

Naruto sighed. "I don't know, Hinata-Chan...but we need to be on our guard the entire test. It's not just the other teams we have to worry about."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke frowned.

"From what Anko said, there are some vicious animals that live in this forest." Naruto explained.

Sasuke groaned. "Great. Not only can we be killed by our classmates...but now wild animals!"

Naruto chuckled. "Don't worry, Sasuke. We're way to strong to get eaten by animals."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Yeah...cuz that makes me feel so much better."

"Okay maggots! Get your lazy asses over here so I can go over the rules." Anko yelled from the entrance to the forest.

The genin accumulated to Anko and stood at attention. Ank scanned the crowd and spoke. "Now that you have your scrolls, it's time for the rules." Some of the genin looked confused that there would be rules in this test. "Those who have your big travel packs...you won't need them." She smirked. "This is a survival test. Use what you've learned to make it through the forest."

"What about food?!" Bellowed Chouji.

Anko stared at the pudgy ninja and sighed. "You're a ninja! Hunt for Christ's sake!" Anko took a deep breath and continued. "Rule Number Two! Do not open your scrolls. If you do, you'll be immediately disqualified from the exams." She could see the genin mumbling to themselves about the rule. "Once you reach the tower in the center of the forest, you can open your scroll. But only if you have it's match." She smirked.

Anko continued. "You have 5 days to get to the tower. If you don't make it in those five days, you are disqualified from the test. And if you're lucky, an ANBU team will come find you. Maybe." She smirked.

A lot of the genin swallowed nervously. Was the forest really that deadly?

"Get ready to enter the forest." Anko commanded.

Teams gathered around the entrance of the forest, and waited for Anko to give the signal to move.

"Oh...just one ore thing." Anko smirked. "Don't die." She saw the look of horror on many faces. It was fairly satisfying. "Go."

On Anko's word, the teams leaped into the forest. Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke jumped from tree branch to tree branch. After about 10 minutes of leaping, they came to a stop at a rather secluded, but clear area. Naruto was the first to speak. "Alright...what should we do? I think we need to come up with a plan, or at least an idea for what's out there."

Sasuke nodded. "I agree. I don't think we should seek a team out right away. I think we should make our way towards the tower, and as we get closer, look for a team with the "Heaven" scroll."

Hinata nodded. "I agree. I believe it'll be easier for us to find a team the closer we are to the tower."

Naruto nodded. "Let's try and avoid that Suna team though."

Sasuke frowned. "Do you think they're really that strong?"

Naruto nodded again. "I do. Gaara's a jiinchuriki like me." He saw Hinata and Sasuke's shocked expressions and continued. "I sought out Gaara before the first test and asked if he was like me. He's the One-Tailed Tanuki."

Sasuke growled. "Wonderful...this test just got a whole lot more dangerous. Not only do we have to survive this forest, but now there's a boy with a demon inside of him that's probably hungry for blood."

Naruto sighed. "Don't fight them if we cross paths. I don't care if they have the "Heaven" scroll. I don't know if it was my own personal instincts, or if its the Kyuubi subconsciously telling me something, but something's wrong with him. I have a feeling he could kill us without even trying."

Hinata nodded. "I promise Naruo-kun." She saw Sasuke nod his head at Naruto. "How long do you think we should travel before we stop?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Well...it's still morning, I say we travel until mid afternoon. That way we can set up camp and eat, and we don't have to start a fire and draw attention to ourselves later tonight."

Naruto nodded. "Good idea. Hinata, can you use your Byakugan to see how far the tower is?"

Hinata nodded and activated her dojutsu. "The tower is about 15 kilometers from this point." She deactivated her Byakugan and turned to her team. "It'll take us about two...maybe three days if we walk."

Naruto nodded. "I guess we should start walking. These next three days will give us time to come across other teams." _'And hopefully avoid Gaara's.' _

Naruto threw a kunai after hearing a strange noise, and had skewered a giant centipede. Sasuke stared at the oversized bug and swallowed nervously. "That thing must be fifteen feet long..."

Naruto shivered at the sight of the bug. "If that's how big the bugs in here are, what other things live in this place?" The other two didn't want to know. They continued walking, keeping their eyes and ears open for any ambush that might happen.

They walked through the afternoon, only stopping for quick bathroom breaks. As the sun started to set, Naruto couldn't help but feel like they were being watched. _'Hey Kyuubi?'_

"**_You're not imagining things, brat. You are indeed being followed."_** Kyuubi said boredly.

Naruto moved closer to Hinata. "Hey Hinata-Chan..." He said in a soft whisper. "Activate your Byakugan and look around. I think we're being followed."

Hinata nodded and activated her Dojutsu. She slowly scanned the area, looking for any sort of chakra signature. As she scanned the surrounding forest, she finally came upon a chakra signature that was approaching them. Fast.

Hinata deactivated her Byakugan and took a few steps back. "There's a large chakra signature coming towards us. It'll be here soon."

Sasuke frowned. "What was it?" He said drawing several shuriken from his pouch.

"It looked like a large snake." She frowned.

The three Genin stood prepared, waiting for the snake to approach. There was silence-like the calm before the storm, then an enormous snake erupted from the forest and lunged at the team.

The genin scattered, and took fighting positions around the snake. Naruto looked on the head of the snake and noticed the man that had a snake-like tongue from earlier. '_So it seems he can summon snakes. Wonderful...'_

The man looked down at the genin and chuckled. "Oh how perfect. Just the team I was looking for." The man practically slithered off the snake, and stood before them. "I see we have a Hyuuga, and..." He looked at Sasuke almost hungirly. "An Uchiha. But...I don't know who you are." He said looking down at Naruto.

Naruto frowned. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Who are you?"

_'So it seems the Kyuubi container is here.' _The man looked over the gennin and chuckled. "My name isn't important right now." He smirked. "However...I am very interested in you, Sasuke." The man said approaching the raven-haired boy.

Sasuke shivered and took a step back. "What's so interesting about me?" He frowned, reaching for a kunai in his pouch.

The man chuckled darkly. "The only interesting thing about your clan, my dear Uchiha. Your Sharingan." He hissed. The man crouched down and lunged at Sasuke.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan, but the man already landed a hit. Sasuke doubled over and grunted in pain, holding his abdomen. _'Damn...this guy is fast. My Sharingan didn't even catch him in time.'_

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, panicked. He rushed at the man and began throwing punches.

The man chuckled. "You stupid fool...You think you can take on a Sannin?" The man kicked Naruto, which sent him flying into a tree.

Hinata gasped. _'Sannin?!'_ Hinata could only stare at the man as she put two and two together. "You're the traitor of Konoha! You're Orochimaru!"

Orochimaru smirked. "Ku ku ku. Such an intelligent girl. And a Hyuuga none-the-less. Your dojutsu is quite a delicious one." His long snake tongue licked his lips. "However...your dojutsu is not the one I'm after." He turned to Sasuke and chuckled again. His tongue shot out of his mouth and flew towards Sasuke.

Sasuke looked up and swiped at the tongue with a kunai. The tongue and his kunai danced before the pink muscle retracted back to it's owner's mouth. "I won't let you take my Sharingan."

Orochimaru smirked and made a few hand-signs before slamming his palm on the ground. Several large clouds of smoke appeared, and once they cleared, three large snakes were glaring at the Genin. "Alright my precious pets..." Orochimaru sang. "Devour them." He chuckled. "but keep the Uchiha alive. I want those beautiful eyes." He chuckled darkly.

The three snakes took in their master's words, and attacked. The genin scattered, but the snakes were faster. Naruto, who had lept up into a tree, had to dodge just as fast as before. He yelped in surprise when the snake grabbed him with it's tail.

"Naruto-Kun!" Hinata yelled. As she yelled, she was sent flying by one of the large snakes. Hinata hit the ground several times before skidding to a stop.

Sasuke was the only one left. Sasuke gripped his kunai and launched at the enormous snake. The snake went to bite him, but Sasuke countered the serpents fangs with his kunai. The snake stuck again, but was deflected by Sasuke's kunai. The snake slowly slithered circles around Sasuke, waiting for the boy to drop his guard.

Sasuke watched the snake, ready to move if it struck. He wasn't prepared for the snake to burst into a puff of smoke. Sasuke was even more surprised when Orochimaru came flying through the smoke and kicked Sasuke in the gut.

Sasuke flew back and hit a tree trunk, sliding down in pain. _'Ow...this guy is really strong. I guess he isn't called a Sannin for nothing...'_ Sasuke saw Naruto and Hinata out of the corner of his eye. They seemed to be fairing alright against the snakes, but they needed to get out of here. And fast.

"Ku ku ku...You can't escape me Sasuke. I will have your Sharingan." He smirked as he slinked closer to the young Uchiha.

Sasuke frowned. He took a few steps back and looked back at Naruto and Hinata. _'Maybe...'_ He turned back to Orochimaru and smirked. "You want my Sharingan? Come and get it." Sasuke turned and ran towards his teammates.

Orochimaru shook his head. "How annoying...making me chase you Sasuke-kun?"

.

.

"Hinata! Watch your back!"

Hinata spun around and struck the large snake in the face with a palm strike. The snake hissed in anger as it's head snapped back with force. "What are we going to do Naruto-Kun? These snakes are too much for the both of us."

"I know, Hinata-Chan. But we have to try. We can't let that snake bastard win." He frowned.

"Guys!" Sasuke yelled as he lept next to them, drawing a kunai incase a snake attacked.

"Sasuke! You okay?" Naruto asked.

"So far...but Orochimaru isn't far behind me. We need to get rid of these snakes and get the hell out of here."

"No shit, Sasuke! But how the hell are we going to do that?!" Naruto frowned.

"Indeed Sasuke." Orochimaru chuckled ontop of one of the snake's heads. "How are you going to escape?"

Sasuke smirked. "Naruto...use your secret move."

Naruto blinked. "My Sexy Jutsu?"

"No, you moron!" Sasuke growled. "The other one!"

Naruto blinked a few times before he understood. "Alright. Be ready guys." His teammates nodded. Naruto made a few hand signs, took a deep breath, and blew out a large cloud of gunpowder.

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow at the jutsu. _'A smoke cloud? Sasuke-kun...you think you can get away with such a terrible trick?' _Orochimaru watched as the smoke surrounded him and the snakes. As he waited for the smoke to clear, he noticed that it was getting thicker. He sniffed the air and his eyes slightly widened. _'This isn't smoke...it's gun powder!'_

"**Fire Style: Pheonix Fire Jutsu!**"

Orochimaru's eyes widened even further. _'Shit...smart play Sasuke-kun.' _He quickly made a hand sign...

When fire connected with gun powder, it created a huge explosion. Inside the crater that was made was the sizzling and crackling remains of the large serpents. Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata who were several kilometers away from the explosion, sighed in relief. "Do you think that did it?" Naruto asked.

"I think it bought us some time." Hinata said honestly. "Despite how strong your jutsu is Naruto-kun, he is a Sannin. He earned that title for a good reason."

Sasuke nodded. "I have to agree. I think we should find shelter and keep a sharp eye out for that snake bastard."

The two nodded and they all stood up. Before they could move, Orochimaru appeared above them in a tree branch. "Ku ku ku. Not bad young Genin. You actually took me by surprise." He smirked. "But I'm through with playing games." Orochimaru's neck extended from his body and stretched out towards Sasuke. Orochimaru extended his teeth and bit down on the juncture of Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke's eyes widened and he screamed in pain. Orochimaru chuckled and his neck retracted back to his body.

"Sasuke!" Naruto looked up at Orochimaru and clenched his fist. "What'd you do to Sasuke?!"

"Oh that's none of your concern little Kyuubi." Orochimaru smirked.

Naruto's eyes widened slightly, but he let out a growl. "Come down here and answer me!"

Hinata looked worried. "Naruto-Kun...don't bait him. We should get Sasuke-San to shelter." She looked over and saw Sasuke still writhing on the ground, holding his neck.

But Naruto was to angry to listen. "You damn coward! Fight me! Or are you too scared to fight the boy who holds the Kyuubi?" Naruto baited.

"**Kid...I think you're pushing it."** Kyuubi warned. **"You won't be able to take him on. You're no where near his level."**

Orochimaru looked at Naruto amused. He put a hand behind his back, his fingers glowing with purple flames. "You think I'm afraid you brat? You're in over your head if you think you can take me on." He smirked.

Naruto growled and lunged up at Orochimaru, kunai in hand.

"Naruto-kun! Don't!" Hinata yelled.

Orochimaru flew at Naruto and struck Naruto's stomach with his enflamed hand. Naruto's face contorted into pain and he flew back into a large tree. Naruto slid down the trunk unconscious.

"Naruto-Kun!" Hinata ran over to the blond and checked on him. He was breathing, which was good. But she had no idea what jutsu Orochimaru used on him. She looked over at Sasuke, who was only a few feet away. He was also unconscious. _'What am I going to do? I can't take a Sannin on alone!'_

Orochimaru looked down at Hinata and chuckled. "Looks like you're the only one left, Little Hyuuga."

Hinata stood up and took her stance. She knew she was no mathc, but she had to protect her teammates. She was confsued when Orochimaru laughed at her. "What's so funny?!"

"Don't worry Little Hyuuga. I won't attack you. You aren't worth my time." He smirked. "I got what I came for."

"You haven't taken Sasuke's Sharingan, like you said you wanted! So what exactly did you come for?!" She frowned.

"You'll see in time, Little Hyuuga." He licked his lips and vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Hinata dropped her stance and ran over to her teammates. She examined Naruto first and concluded he would be okay. When she checked Sasuke, she noticed that Sasuke now had three tomoes on his neck. The mark had purple mist emitting from it.

Hinata stared at her teammates with worry. _'What am I going to do now?'_

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Again I'm sorry it's been a while since I've posted, and I'm sorry this chapter's kind of short! Hope you enjoyed it! Till next time!**

**~Lu lu-Chan25**


	14. The Forest of Death

**The Forest of Death**

**Alright everyone! Here's my most recent chapter! I hope you guys enjoy it!**

**I also want to do a recommendation! **

**Read _My Precious People_ by Serious Sam! It's seriously an amazing story!**

**A special thank to my editor Chibusa! Thanks for your help!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!**

"I can't believe we haven't found a single "Heaven" scroll!" Sakura huffed. "You would think that we would be able to find one by now." Team Eight had been scrounging around the forest for hours and hadn't come across a team that had a "Heaven" scroll. Hell, they hadn't even seen any of the other teams since the test started.

Kiba sighed. "I have to agree with you, Pinkie. I'm anxious for a fight!" He said cracking his knuckles. Akamaru barked in agreement.

Sakura growled. "How many times do I have to tell you to not call me "Pinkie!" She screeched.

Kiba shrugged. "And how many time do I have to tell you, I don't care!" He yelled back.

Shino, who had blocked out his teammates's bickering, saw that one of his insects was returning. He held out his finger and the little bug landed. After a few moments of listening to it buzz, Shino spoke. "A team is nearby."

Sakura and Kiba stopped and turned to their teammate. "Do you know which one?" Kiba smirked.

"Team Seven."

Sakura gasped. "That means Sasuke-kun is nearby!" She said excitedly. "Let's go find them!"

"What if they have a "Heaven" scroll? We're going to need to take it from them." Kiba said. "We need to get to the final test." He nodded. Akamaru yipped in agreement.

Team Eight quickly got their stuff together and began to walk toward Team Seven, Shino and his bugs leading the way.

.

.

Hinata sat in a small cave watching her friends sleep. After the battle Orochimaru, she had managed to find a small clearing with a cave dug out from a hill. After getting Sasuke and Naruto situated in the cave, she set up several traps and alarms, incase any team approached. It had been a whole day and the boys still hadn't woken up. She looked at her teammates, worried. A purple aura was rolling off of Sasuke. He was feverish, sweating, and shivering-like his body was fighting off a poison. Naruto hadn't budged since Oroshimaru hit him. _'What did he do to you two?'_

She heard some leaves rustle outside the cave and quickly drew a kunai. She saw a squirrel appear from the brush and let out a relieved sigh. _'I can't hide out here much longer. I need to find a way to heal Sasuke and Naruto-kun...and soon.'_

"Sasuke-kun!"

Hinata was brought out of her thoughts when she heard the familiar voice of a banshee. Hinata groaned. _'I really don't want to deal with Sakura right now. But...perhaps they can help me.'_ Hinata slowly came out of the cave and saw Team Eight standing ontop of the hill that held her cave. "Sakura, Kiba, Shino!" Hinata smiled.

Kiba gave Hinata a toothy grin. "Hinata! It's so good to see you! Where's Mr. Dark-and-Depressing and I'm-so-hyperactive?" Kiba said looking around the small clearing.

Hinata frowned at Kiba. "Kiba...I don't appreciate you mocking my friends."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah Kiba! Besides...Sasuke-kun isn't dark and depressing." She growled, smacking the canine-like boy across the back of the head. Sakura glanced around before looking back at Hinata. "Say...where is Sasuke-kun?"

Hinata sighed. "He and Naruto-kun got hurt. They're down here." She said walking back into her cave.

Team Eight followed silently, avoiding all of Hinata's traps. Sakura's silence was short-lived. "Oh my God...Sasuke-kun!" She ran over to the Uchiha's side and instantly began tending to him. "What happened to him?" She asked worriedly.

Shino nodded. "I also wish to know how your teammates ended up unconscious."

Hinata sighed. "We were attacked." She said tiredly.

Kiba growled. "By who?"

"Orochimaru."

Team Eight were completely silent. Hinata was waiting for Sakura or Kiba to scream, yell, shout, or any combination of the three. But Shino was the first one to speak.

"Orochimaru...the Legendary Sannin, attacked you?" He asked in disbelief.

Hinata nodded. "I know Shino-San...but it's true."

"But...why would Orochimaru attack you guys?" Kiba asked, just as bewildered as Shino. "It sounds kind of...bizarre don't you think? I mean...I know you guys are strong and all. But the idea of a Sannin attacking a Rookie Gennin team...it just doesn't make sense." He said rubbing his chin in thought.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah Hinata. I mean...come on. He's a Legendary Sannin!"

"He's also a traitor." Hinata reminded. "He killed dozen of people. We read about his betrayal in the Academy." She frowned.

Sakura sighed and nodded. "Okay so...do you know why he attacked you?"

"He wanted Sasuke's Sharingan." She said as she sat down against the cavern wall.

Sakura gasped. "He...He didn't take them...did he?" The pinkette looked down at Sasuke, afraid of the answer.

Hinata shook her head. "No...he didn't. But he did something to Sasuke and I have no idea what to do. And Naruto-kun...He used some sort of sealing technique. I just don't know how to help them right now."

Shino approached Hinata and nodded to her. "You should rest. You look quite exhausted."

Hinata shook her head. "I can't. I have to take care of them."

Sakura shook her head. "It's okay Hinata. We'll watch over Sasuke-kun and Naruto so you can get some rest." However, Sakura's tone changed. "But I want to warn you Hinata...once they're better, we're coming after your "Heaven" scroll." She nodded.

"Sakura! You're crazy!" Kiba hollered. "You want to help her, then fight her?!"

Hinata waved off Kiba's outburst. "You won't need to worry about that Sakura. We have the "Earth" scroll, so fighting us would be pointless." She said softly.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief. She didn't want to have to fight Sasuke-kun, but she wanted to get to the next test. Sakura smiled at Hinata. "You get some rest. We'll let you know if Sasuke-kun or Naruto wake up."

Hinata nodded gratefully. She closed her eyes and was out in minutes.

.

.

Two hours passed and everything was silent. Hinata was asleep and the boys still hadn't woken up. Sakura had taken on the roll of nurse and was caring for the boys. She placed a cold, damp cloth on Sasuke's forehead to try and bring his fever down. She looked Naruto over for any broken bones or massive bruising. Fortunately, he didn't have any.

Kiba and Akamaru were sitting at the mouth of the cave keeping guard while Shino merely kept quite. Everyone came to attention when Akamaru began to growl. Even Hinata woke up. "Kiba? What's going on?" She said rubbing her tired eyes.

Kiba got to his feet, crouching defensively. "Someone's approaching the cave." He growled.

They all rushed to Kiba, ready to fight. Several quite moments passed before Akamaru's growls got louder. A Genin team walked out into the clearing, smirking at Konoha children.

"Lookie what we have here boys." Came the team's kunoichi. "Little Konoha losers. Lets take them out and grab their scrolls." The kunoichi had very long, jet black hair, nearly touching the ground. She wore a pale green vest, snake pattern pants and scarf, and knee-high black ninja sandals.

Her teammates wore similar snake pattern pants and scarves. One boy had spiky dark hair and eyes. He wore a beige shirt that had two black stripes and three symbols of the work "death" down the front. The other had his entire face wrapped in bandages, only leaving his left eye visible. He wore a large poncho with very long sleeves and on his back was a straw raincoat. He was hunched over, making him a lot shorter than he was. All three Genin wore Otogakure hitai-ate around their foreheads.

"Now Kin..." Said the boy with the bandaged face. "We can't take every team's scrolls."

"Why not Dosu?" Came the other boy. "It takes out more teams from the final exam."

"Zaku's right Dosu. Besides...I'm sure Sensei will love the fact we took out Sasuke's little team from the competition." Kin said with a smirk.

Hinata frowned. "Why are you guys after Sasuke?" It seemed Sasuke was a very popular person these days...

Kin shook her finger at Hinata. "No no little girl. Can't give away all our secrets." Kin smirked. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out senbon that had small bells attached to them.

Kiba looked at the senbon and chuckled. "Heh! You think those girly little senbon will hurt us?"

Kin smirked and threw the senbon at their feet. The bells chimbed, sending ear piercing sound waves at the Konoha Genin. They all covered their ears and yelled in protest. Kiba and Akamaru receiving the worst of it because their hearing was so sensitive. Kiba fell to his knees and promptly began to vomit.

Shino attempted to rush the Oto kunoichi, but found himself completely off-balance and fell to the ground.

Zaku smirked and rushed the Genin. He struck Sakura first, punching her in the stomach.

Sakura gasped and fell to her knees.

Zaku went to strike Hinata, but she countered his attack with a Jyuuken strike.

Zaku smirked. "I'm surprised you were able to counter me even when you're off balance. But you won't beat us."

Even though the sound waves had subsided, the effects still remained. The Oto-Nin all rushed the Konoha genin. They tried to counter their opponent's attacks, but because their inner ears were still ringing, they barely managed to stand up straight. Hinata, Sakura, and Shino were all bested by the Oto-nin. Kiba and Akamaru were out for the count, the soundwaves knocking them unconscious.

Kin rushed towards Sakura and grabbed the pinkette by her hair. "Ooooh...what beautiful, silky hair." She cooed, yanking on the pink locks. Sakura yelped in pain. "Why can't I have nice, soft hair like yours? Oh...that's right. I'm a _real_ kunoichi." She cackled, still yanking on the Sakura's hair. Kin pulled out one of her non-belled senbon, ready to drive it into her jugular. "You pathetic piece of garbage. You should be honing your skills, not conditioning your hair."

Sakura felt tears instantly spring to her eyes. '_Oh no...I'm going to die here.'_

"Sakura!" Hinata screamed, obviously scared for her fellow kunoichi. She started running towards Sakura and Kin, when Zaku cut her off.

"I don't think so." Zaku smirked. He reached out for Hinata, who countered his grab with a palm strike.

Sakura grabbed a kunai from her small leg pouch and clutched it tight.

Dosu smirked, even though it couldn't be seen behind his bandages. "Do it Kin."

"You stupid bitch. That won't work on me." Kin chuckled. She drove her senbon towards Sakura's neck.

Sakura countered the senbon with her kunai, but her hair was yanked again. "Heh...You don't think I know that?" She smirked through the pain.

Sakura sliced her hair, releasing her from Kin's tight grip, and spun around to face Kin.

Kin smirked. "Oh lookie here boys. She thinks she came fight me." She looked to her teammates and noticed they were all occupied with the other two standing Genin. When she looked back towards Sakura, she was no longer standing there. "Wha-" Flower pedals started floating around her. It swirled around her, almost like a blizzard.

Kin looked in different directions, but couldn't find Sakura. All she saw were damn the flower pedals! She spun around to look behind her, and felt something make contact with her stomach. She gasped and gripped her abdomen, falling to her knees in pain.

The flower pedals vanished, and Sakura stood right in front of her. Kin hissed. "A genjutsu..." She looked down at her abdomen and saw a kunai lodged in her gut.

Zaku looked over and saw that Kin had been injured. "Dosu...we need to get out of here."

Dosu nodded. "I agree. We-" Dosu was cut off by an explosion of chakra behind him. The bandaged genin turned and saw Sasuke standing at the mouth of the cave, looking quite angry.

Hinata, who had previously been occupied with Zaku, turned and looked at her teammate. She gasped when she took in his appearance. His Sharingan was activated, but the left half of his body was covered in black markings. His neck, where Orochimaru bit him was still emitting a purple haze. "S-Sasuke-San..."

Sakura stared at her crush in horror. "S...Sasuke...what happened to you...?"

Sasuke smirked. "You guys started the fight without me?" He cracked his knuckled and chuckled darkly. "Guess I'll just have to jump right in, then." He crouched down and sprang into action. He was infront of Zaku in the blink of an eye.

Zaku's eyes widened when he saw Sasuke in front of him. "What-" Zaku was silened with a punch to the face.

Everyone watched in shock as Zaku was sent flying. Zaku hit a tree 20 yards away, sliding down the trunk with a groan. Zaku looked up, his vision slightly blurred, but he didn't see Sasuke.

Sasuke chuckled. "You're stupid for attacking my friends. I'll make you pay for hurting them." He grabbed Zaku's arms and stomped his foot on Zaku's back, pulling his arms back at the same time.

Zaku's eyes widened and he screamed as his arms were yanked out of their sockets with a sickening snap. Once he was released, he crumpled to the ground, writhing in pain.

Sasuke looked over towards Dosu, who was frightened by Sasuke's power. "It seems like you're the only one left." he chuckled. "Don't worry. I'll make your death short and swift."

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screamed.

Sasuke stopped and turned to Sakura. He saw the terrified look on her face. He looked towards Shino and saw that he, too was rather taken back. Then he saw Hinata's face. She looked horrified and concerned. The black markings on Sasuke's body began to recede into the bite mark that Orochimaru gave him, which had taken the shape of a swirly black circle that encompassed three tomoes.

Dosu frowned. _'Damn...we don't have a choice but to retreat...'_ He rummaged in his ninja pouch and pulled out some scrolls. "I know when I'm beat." He placed the scrolls on the ground before he went to Kin and put her on his back. Then he collected Zaku before running away.

Shino walked over to the scrolls and picked them up. "'Heaven" and "Earth" scrolls." He said boredly. He returned to the group, who were kneeling down next to Kiba.

"Kiba. Kiba, wake up." Sakura said, shaking the unconscious boy. "Damn it, Dog-Breath! Wake up!" She yelled shaking him vigerously.

Kiba's head was snapped back and forth at a rapid pace, before he woke up. "Sakuraaaaaa! Stop shaking meeeeeee!"

Once Sakura stopped, Kiba gripped his head in pain. "Uuugh...my head's still ringing from those damn soundwaves..."

"You gunna be okay Kiba?" Sakura asked concerned.

He nodded. "Yeah. I think once the ringing stops, I'll be okay." Kiba looked at Sakura and blinked. "Hey...you're hair...what happened?"

Sakura reahced up to her shorten locks and smiled. "A change for the better." She smiled.

Kiba noticed that Sasuke was standing near him. "About time you woke up."

"You're one to talk, Dog." Sasuke frowned.

Kiba growled and went to lunge, but Shino placed a firm hand on his shoulder. Kiba looked up at the bug-wielding shinobi. The look in Shino's eyes...or glasses, made him sigh. "Fine." He stood up, though he was a bit wobbly. He got to his feet and noticed Akamaru was awake, wagging his tail. "Come here buddy." Akamaru leaped into his master's arms, then crawled into his jacket.

Shino looked at Hinata and Sasuke and held out a "Heaven" Scroll. 

Hinata blinked. "Shino-San...are you sure?"

Shino nodded. "You fought hard, and Sasuke did inevitably defeat the Sound Genin. You deserve the scroll."

Hinata took the scroll and bowed to the bug user. She noticed Shino pocket the other scrolls and returned to his team. "Let's go." He put Kiba's arm over his shoulder to support him, and Team 8 left.

Hinata walked up to Sasuke, obviously concerned. "Sasuke...what happened during that fight?"

Sasuke frowned. "I don't know...I just...felt this surge of power and I sort of went with it." _'The power was intoxicating.'_

Hinata nodded. "At least we have the "Heaven" scroll now." She looked back towards the cave, where Naruto was still unconscious.

Sasuke frowned. "How'd he get hurt?"

Hinata sighed. "He attacked Orochimaru because you got hurt."

Sasuke walked over to the cave and stared at the unconscious blond. Sasuke frowned and nudged Naruto with his foot. "Oi, Dobe. Wake up!"

Naruto didn't budge.

Sasuke growled and knelt next to Naruto and grabbed his shoulders. "WAKE UP!" Sasuke started shaking Naruto rather violently.

"S-Sasuke!" Hinata shouted. "Don't shake him! You could injure him fur-" Hinata stopped mid-sentence when she noticed Naruto had woken up during the violent shaking.

Sasuke stopped and let Naruto fall back to the ground. "About time you woke up."

Naruto groaned. "You didn't have to shake me so hard..." He held his head, trying to stop the spinning.

"How do you feel, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked as she sat next to him.

"Other than having than feeling dizzy, I'm okay." He nodded. He stood up slowly, wobbling slightly from his dizziness. "My chakra feels funny..."

"Is it the Kyuubi?" Hinata asked quietly.

"No...I don't think so." _'Hey Kyuubi. What's going on with my chakra?'_

"_**That damn Orochimaru!"**_

_'What do you mean?'_

"_**Orochimaru used the Five Elements Seal. It completely blocks my chakra from your body, and it distrupts your control of your chakra."**_ Kyuubi explained. **_"So all that training you and your little female friend did before the academy is practically useless."_**

Naruto's eyes widened. '_So I have no control over my chakra at all?'_

"_**Very minimal control. I would be surprised if you were able to summon a Shadow Clone."**_

"DAMMIT!" Naruto screamed.

Sasuke and Hinata stared at Naruto, Hinata more concerned than Sasuke. "What's the matter Naruto-kun?"

"That damn, fucking snake-bastard!" Naruto growled. "That attack he hit me with screwed up my chakra, and according to Kyuubi, I have minimal to no control over my chakra right now." He hissed.

Sasuke frowned. "Well...what can you do?"

"Maybe you should do the tree exorsice, Naruto-kun." Hinata suggested.

He nodded and faced the nearest tree. He ran about half way up the tree before his chakra exploded from his feet, causing him to launch off the trunk. Naruto hit the ground and groaned.

"Naruto-kun! Are you okay?" Hinata asked, rushing to the blond's side.

"Ugh...yeah." He sat up and saw Sasuke smirking at him. "What are you smirking at?"

"I think it's funny how _you_ can't run up the tree." Sasuke chuckled.

"Hardy-har-har." Naruto pouted.

Sasuke chuckled again, but because serious rather quickly. "This will pose as a problem. With your chakra control being this shotty right now, encountering a team could be dangerous."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah no kidding. It's gunna suck getting a "Heaven" scroll." Naruto sighed.

"Oh, we already have one Naruto-kun." Hinata smiled.

"What? Since when?" Naruto asked flabbergasted.

"Since you were passed out." Sasuke snickered.

Naruto growled and launched himself at Sasuke, holding him in a headlock.

"Hey! Let go of me Dobe!" Sasuke flailed.

Hinata frowned. "Boys! Stop it! We should get going to the tower!" Hinata said placing her hands on her hips.

Naruto and Sasuke looked up and Hinata before seperating.

Hinata sighed, and couldn't help but smile at her teammates. "Alright, let's get going. The sooner we get there the sooner we can get you boys checked out."

Naruto's lack of chakra control worried her, but Sasuke's sudden boost in power and strange markings he had earlier fightened her and she wanted to tell Kakashi-sensei about it.

Sasuke frowned and put his hands in his pants pockets. "So...to the tower?"

Naruto and Hinata nodded and they all lept into the trees. They traveled on treebranch for nearly an hour when Naruto came to a sudden stop.

"What's the matter Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, confused.

"Yeah Dobe. We can make it to the tower in another couple of hours if we keep going." Sasuke said putting a hand on his hip.

Naruto frowned. "Gaara's nearby."

His teammate's eyes widened. "Where?" Sasuke frowned.

Naruto pointed to the West. "They're too close to avoid..." He frowned. "We need to hide ourselves. Right now."

Hinata and Sasuke didn't object and the three of them jumped from the branches to the ground and hid in their surroundings.

A few minutes passed and Gaara and his siblings started walking through the small clearing that Team 7 was hiding in.

Gaara stopped in the clearing. Temari and Konkuro stared at their younger brother. "Gaara? What's up?" Temari asked cautiously.

Gaara remained silent for a few moments, before turning his head to the left. "We have company."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata all froze in their hiding spots. How could they have been noticed?!

To Gaara's right, a gennin team from Amegakure appeared out of the brush. Fortunately for Team 7, they went unnoticed by both opposing teams.

"Look what we have here boys." Shigure, the team leader chuckled. "Little Suna Nin." he smirked. "Don't worry Little Suna Nin, we only want your scroll. If you give us your scroll now, then we might no hurt you too bad." Shigure's teammates snickered.

Temari rolled her eyes. "How stupid..."

Kankuro smirked. "Can I kill these ninja, Gaara?" He saig grabbing onto a large scroll on his back.

Gaara shook his head. "No."

Kankuro frowned. "Why not? It'd love to show them how weak they are."

"Us? Weak? I think you're delusional." Baiu, one of Shigure's teammates smirked behind his leader.

"Oh I don't think we are." Temari chuckled. She saw Gaara take a step forward and smirked. "You guys are in for a real treat. Not everyone get's to be killed by Gaara."

Gaara stayed silent.

Shigure chuckled. "I think I'll show you weaklings not to mess with us." He pulled his weaponized umbrella from it's holster on his back. "Prepare to die." he smirked.

Shigure opened his umbrella and threw it in the air. Shigure performed the "Tiger" hand seal and the umbrella began to spin. The unbrella spun faster and faster until senbon needles rained from it.

Gaara stared boredly at Shigure as the senbon flew straight for him.

Shigure and his teammates smirked at Gaara. "See?" Shigure chuckled. "He's probably skewered to the-" he froze when he saw Gaara surrounded by a shell of...sand? "What? How is that possible!"

Gaara was standing in a shell of sand that was covered with senbon. He looked bored, though menacing.

"You guys did it now." Kankuro chuckled.

Shigure and his teammates all took a step back. "Who...who is this guy?" Midare, the third team member whispered.

The sand shell slowly slithered down to the ground, the senbon dropping with soft clangs. The sand slithered over to the Amegakure team and up their bodies.

"Wh-What is this?!" Baiu cried. He tried swipping at the sand.

Shigure was hitting the sand with his umbrella, but it wasn't doing any good. The sand continued to climb up the Ame Nin. The three cried in terror. The sand completely encased there bodies, leaving only their heads exposed.

Gaara lifted his open falm up in the air, lifting the sand encased shinobi in the air.

The Amegakure shinobi stared in horror at the Suna nin.

Temari giggled and waved her hand. "Bye bye."

Gaara closed his fist, making the sand crush the Ame nin.

The Ame shinobi screamed in agony as their blood painted the ground.

Team 7 watched in horror as the Amegakure shinobi were crushed to death. Naruto shivered in fear. _'Kyuubi...is this his power, or the bijuu's?'_

"**_This is all him, kid. Shukaku maybe a blood thirsty, uncontrolable demon...but I would know if Shukaku was behind this."_**Kyuubi said with a frown.

_'Fan-fucking-tastic...'_ Naruto frowned.

Kankuro chuckled. "What idiots. We tried to warn them."

Gaara turned his head slightly and stared up into the trees. He narrowed his eyes at the leaves.

Naruto froze. Gaara was staring right at him. _'Can he see me? We're so screwed if he attackes us...'_

Temari noticed her brother was staring off into the trees. "Gaara, we should get moving. We're close to the tower."

Gaara stared into the trees a few moments longer before turning to his siblings. "Let's go."

The Suna team left the clearing without another word.

After waiting a few moments to make sure the Suna team didn't return, Team 7 appeared in the clearing, near the dead Ame shinobi. They stared at the dead shinobi in shock.

"Gaara knew we were here." Naruto finally said.

"I figured as much. He was staring at where you were hiding." Sasuke said quietly. He couldn't lie...Gaara truly scared him.

Hinata was still shaking from the trauma she just witnessed. "This must be the power of his demon."

"No." Naruto frowned.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Sasuke frowned as well.

"Kyuubi said that this power was all Gaara." Naruto sighed. "This just got a whole lot more dangerous."

Hinata frowned. "Perhaps we should tell Kakashi-sensei about Gaara."

Naruto nodded. "We also have to tell him about that snake bastard."

The teammates nodded at each other before taking off towards the tower. After traveling for about an hour and a half, Team 7 arrived at the tower. Sasuke sighed in relief. "Not gunna lie...I can't wait to get into this tower and sleep."

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah...I hear you Sasuke." He turned to Naruto and smiled. "You have the scrolls, right Hinata?"

Hinata nodded and pulled them out of her back pouch. She handed Sasuke the "Earth" scroll and she held onto the "Heaven" scroll.

Naruto smirked. "Okay...Anko said to open them when we got here. So open them on "three." The others nodded. "One...two...three!"

Hinata and Sasuke opened the scrolls simutaneously. Nothing happened for several momments, then the scrolls burst into puffs of smoke.

The smoke surrounded the gennin. Once the smoke cleared, Iruka was standing in front of them. He looked at Team 7 with a proud smile. "Congratulations Team 7!"

"Iruka-Sensei!" Naruto cried happily. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to congratulate you three on a job well done." He smiled. "You guys are the second team to complete the test."

Sasuke blinked. "Who's the first?"

"The Suna Team." Iruka stated with a nod. Team 7 wasn't surprised at all.

"Alright guys, you've done really well. Go ahead and go inside the tower and relax. You have two days before the test is over." Iruka nodded.

Team 7 all nodded, grateful they were able to rest.

As they walked into the tower, they passed by the Suna team. Naruto eyed each shinobi, until his eyes landed on Gaara. The two stared at each other for several minutes before Naruto turned away.

"_**Be prepared kit. The final test is the hardest of them all." Kyuubi stated**_

_'What's the final test?'_

"**You have to fight other genin."**

_'Even my own teammates?'_

"_**It's very possible. So get ready kit."**_

Naruto walked back over to his team deep in thought. If he had to fight Sasuke or Hinata in a fight to advance as Chuunin, what good would it do him? _'These exams are going to be the death of me...'_

**End**

**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please review!**


	15. Author's Note!

Hey everyone! It's me! I just wanted to let you know what's going on.

I have officially decided that I'm going to be re-vamping Chapter 5. I've been thinking about this for a while because the chapter has been bothering me. Pretty much since I wrote it I realized, especially with a lot of reviews telling me so, that Hiruzen telling the village Itachi was innocent was really dumb and stupid. Honestly I've felt it was stupid when I was writing it, but back then I didn't really care. As I wrote more and more chapters, and the more and more I re-read my fanfiction, I realized I **HATED **how that worked. And other people telling me they hated it and that it really wasn't logical kind of helped me with my decision.

So...Chapter 5 is now up and running! It's mostly the same except for the beginning. I took out Hiruzen announcing Itachi's innocence for what is there now!

Thanks everyone! Hope you enjoy the new Chapter 5 and what's to come in the future!

~Lu Lu-Chan25


	16. The Preliminaries

**Chapter 15**

**Hey guys! Hows it going? Good, I hope. Well here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy it! **

**Recommendations: Again, I recommend _"My Precious People"_ by Serious Sam. Very good fic. Very good.**

**I am definitely recommending **_**"Senju, Uzumaki, Namikaze: The Untold Heir" **_**by Klima371. I have been enjoying this ficsince chapter 3. It's very very good. **

**I am also recommending **_**"For the Love of the Hokage" **_**by Hendrixson. This fic is adorable! I love it so much!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**The Preliminaries**

"And you're sure it was Orochimaru?"

Naruto frowned. "I don't know how many times we have to tell you...it was Orochimaru!" He, Hinata, and Sasuke had been sitting with Ibiki and Anko for the last hour relaying what happened in the forest.

Ibiki sighed. "We must investigate this."

Anko nodded. Anko gave Sasuke a knowing look and shushined away with Ibiki.

Sasuke sighed. "Should we talk to Sensei now?"

Naruto and Hinata nodded. They walked to the common area and saw Kakashi leaning against a wall. Kakashi looked up and smirked at the team. "I must say...hearing that a Genin team took on not only the traitor of Konoha and legendary Sannin, but then another team almost immediately after, I was surprised to find out it was not only a team from Konoha...but my own team." He chuckled.

Team Seven didn't look amused.

Kakashi stood up straight and stared at Sasuke. "Sasuke...I want you to come with me to the basement. We're going to seal that cursed mark."

Sasuke nodded. "What about Naruto? He got hit with some sort of sealing move."

Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow and turned to the blond. "Is this true, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah...Orochimaru used some sealing jutsu and now it's screwing with my chakra. According to Kyuubi, I have little to no control over it. Let alone his."

Kakashi's eyebrow shot up and he stared at Naruto in shock. "You...you can talk to the Kyuubi?!"

Naruto frowned and tried to shush Kakashi. "Shhh! Yeah, I can. I've been able to since Wave. But that's not the point. The point is I can't control my chakra anymore."

Kakashi shook off his initial shock and nodded. "You come as well. I'm not as well versed in fuinjutsu, but I'll see what I can do." He turned to Hinata.

Naruto nodded as well. He smiled at Hinata. "You can come too, Hinata-Chan."

She smiled and followed her teammates to the basement of the tower. Once there, Kakashi turned to Naruto. "You're up first Naruto. Take off your shirt and concentrate on your chakra."

Naruto took off his trench vest and black shirt. He saw Hinata blushing out of the corner of his eye. He smirked before concentrating on his chakra. His seal appeared on his stomach. Hinata and Sasuke stared at the seal in facination.

Kakashi observed the seal as more symbols around to appear around it. "Alright Naruto. That's enough."

Naruto stopped and looke up at Kakashi. "Can you fix it?"

Kakashi nodded. "You're lucky. I was taught this technique by a fuinjutsu master."

Naruto blinked. "Really? Who was it?"

Kakashi chuckled. "You'll meet him soon enough, I'm sure." He smirked. "Now...just to warn you, this unsealing technique is going to hurt. A lot."

Naruto frowned. "It can't hurt as much as the technique that snake bastard used. It knocked me out."

Kakashi nodded. "Perhaps not. But it will still hurt. You should take the day to rest once it's unsealed so your chakra can recover and get back into it's natural flow."

Naruto nodded. "I understand." Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Whenever you're ready Kakashi-Sensei."

Kakashi nodded. He preformed a quick handsign, his fingers began to glow with blue chakra and he thrust his hand into Naruto's stomach. Naruto's face contorted in pain and fell to his knees.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata was instantly at his side. "Are you okay?"

Naruto groaned as he held his abdomen. "Oh man...Kakashi-Sensei...you weren't kidding." He stood up slowly, with the help of Hinata. "Thanks Hinata-Chan."

Hinata smiled. "You're welcome. We should get you to bed so you can rest."

Naruto shook his head. "No. I want to wait for Sasuke."

Hinata nodded and the two teens turned towards their Sensei.

Kakashi set up two kunai circles and began writing symbols. on the ground inbetween the circles. "Sasuke...please stand in the middle of these circles." Kakashi instructed as he continued to write.

Sasuke nodded and stood in the center. He noticed Kakashi was writing with his finger. "Are you writing with your own blood?" His eyes widened.

"Yes. This sealing technique requires it." Kakashi said writing the last few symbols. "Now...this won't take very long."

"But?" Sasuke knew there was more to this technique.

"It'll hurt like hell." Kakashi finished.

Sasuke groaned. "So...is it going to hurt as much as Naruto's sealing technique?"

"Worse."

Sasuke groaned louder. "Outstanding..." He hissed sarcastically.

"Its okay Sasuke." Naruto nodded.

Hinata smiled. "We'll be here for you."

Sasuke nodded at Hinata and Naruto, who was giving him a thumbs up. "Alright. I'm ready."

Kakashi nodded and stood behind Sasuke, taking a deep breath as he began to form a multitude of handsigns. Kakashi placed his hand on the curse mark. All the symbols glided across the floor, slithering over Sasuke's body before they vanished into the curse seal. After the last few symbols vanished, Sasuke screamed in agony, his seal glowing and crackling with chakra.

Naruto and Hinata listened to their friend's tortured screams, chills running down their spines.

Kakashi pulled his hand away and Sasuke slumped to the floor. Kakashi knelt down and picked him up. "Come with me you two."

Kakashi walked up to the bedrooms from the basement, Naruto and Hinata following him. He placed Sasuke on the bed and turned to the other two. "He'll be fine. Now that this curse is sealed, he should be able to control himself a lot better." His eyes then focused on Naruto. "How do you feel now that your chakra has been unsealed."

"Better. My chakra still feels a little off, but I'll be okay." Naruto nodded.

Kakashi nodded back. "Alright. I'm going to talk with Hokage-Sama and tell him that I've sealed Sasuke, and unsealed you."

Naruto and Hinata nodded. "Thanks Kakashi-Sensei."

Kakashi nodded and shushined out of the tower. Hinata turned to Naruto and placed her hands on her hips. "You should lay down now Naruto-kun. You need to regain your strength for the third test."

Naruto chuckled. "Yes mom." He teased.

Hinata stuck her tongue out at Naruto, who mimiced the Hyuuga. She giggled and smiled at Naruto. "Really Naruto-kun...you should sleep. I'll wake you up if anything happens."

Naruto nodded and laid down in bed. "Thanks Hinata-Chan." Naruto yawned and rolled over.

.

.

Hinata walked into the bedroom and saw that Naruto and Sasuke were still asleep. It was nearly ten in the morning, and Hinata was starting to worry. She didn't know how long they were going to be sleeping, but she hoped they would wake up soon.

Her silent prayer was answered when she heard Naruto yawn. Her eyes shot to Naruto and she smiled. "Naruto-kun!" She was by his side almost instantly. "How do you feel?"

Naruto yawned again and stretched. "A lot better. My chakra feels as good as new." he smiled. "How was life in the conscious world?" He chuckled.

Hinata chuckled as well. "Well...it was rather uneventful. Three more teams made it through the exam."

Naruto blinked. "Really? Who?"

"Team Gai, Team 8, and that Oto team the attacked us." Hinata frowned at the last team.

Naruto frowned as well. "Wonderful. Well...at least some the rookie genin teams made it through." He smiled.

Hinata nodded. "When do you think Sasuke is going to wake up?" She asked.

Naruto shrugged. "No idea. He'll probably be out most of the day."

"No...I'm awake." Sasuke groaned in his bed.

Hinata squeeked in surprise. "How long have you been awake, Sasuke?"

Sasuke groaned again as he struggled to sit up. "Since you said what teams made it through."

"How do you feel?" Naruto asked.

"Sore...tired...weak." He frowned. "I don't like it."

Naruto chuckled. "Don't worry about it Sasuke. Another day of rest and you'll be back to your dark, depressing self again." He teased.

Sasuke glared at Naruto. "I hate you."

"No you don't." He teased again.

Hinata shook her head at her two teammates and smiled at Sasuke. "Do you think you can get out of bed?"

Sasuke nodded and slowly got up. He walked over to Naruto and Hinata and sighed. "Let's grab some food. I'm starving."

"Same here." Naruto nodded. The trio walked out of the bedroom and down the stairs, though Sasuke was slower than his teammates.

They reached the mess hall and saw Team Gai talking to Team 8. Lee was still harassing Sakura: telling her she as the most beautiful flower in all the land, much to Kiba's amusement. He laughed at her predicament and she gave him a good whack on the head for it.

Team 7 walked over to the two teams and smiled. "Hey guys!" Naruto smiled. "Hows it goin'?"

"Naruto-San!" Lee turned his attention to the blonde. "Hinata-Sama and Team 8 told us about your encounter with Orochimaru and an Oto team. Your Flmaes of Youth burn so brightly! And Sasuke-San! The beautiful Sakura-Chan told me how you easily took out that Sound team! Your Flames of Youth burn just as brightly!"

Naruto chuckled nervously while Sasuke's eyebrow twitched at Lee's exhuberance. After getting food, the team sat down at the table. The three teams ate and talked, while Lee still tried to woo Sakura with his "youthful" words. Hinata and Neji were engaged in conversation about how Team Gai had taken out a Amegakure team for their "Earth" scroll. Kiba, Shino, Naruto, and Sasuke were in deep conversation about the Oto team.

"I don't think they should be allowed to stay in the exams. They have to be helping Orochimaru!" Kiba frowned.

"There is no proof they are with him." Shino said quietly.

"It's true...but something about them screams Orochimaru to me." Kiba said foldinghis arms.

Sasuke nodded. "According to Hinata, they had a particular interest in me."

"Just like Orochimaru." Naruto finished. All four boys nodded. "Hopefully the Old Man can shed-" Naruto stopped talking when the Suna team entered the mess hall.

The Suna team walked by their table, Tamari and Kankuro smirking down at the Konoha teams. Gaara was the only one who wasn't smirking, but his eyes never left Naruto as he walked by. Naruto glared at the jinchuuriki as he passed.

Once the Suna nin were out of ear shot, Kiba shivered. "Those guys give me the creeps."

Naruto frowned. "Hopefully Kakashi-Sensei talks about them, too."

.

.

"Are you sure about this Kakashi?" Hiruzen looked disturbed. His former student was back in Konoha. This was the last thing he wanted...especially now.

Kakashi nodded. "I'm afraid so Hokage-Sama. Sasuke was bitten by Orochimaru and received the same curse Anko has." Kakashi watched the Hokage stroke his beard thoughtfully. "What should we do, Hokage-Sama?"

"Orochimaru wants us to stop the exams, so we're going to continue on." He frowned. "We're going to beef up security in the village. I want you and every Jounin and ANBU to be on constant high alert. I want rounds done every 15 minutes." Hiruzen nodded. "If there is any sign of Orochimaru...do not attack and alert me immediately."

Kakashi nodded and shushined out of his office.

Hiruzen stroked his beard anxiously. _This isn't good. I should have taken care of him all those years ago..._

.

.

The last two days of the exam passed, and only two more teams made it through, one of them being Team 10. Sasuke made a full recovery the day before, and was ready to move on to the third exam. All seven teams stood in the arena of the tower, staring at the Hokage and several jounin.

The Hokage was the first to speak. "Congratulations Genin. You've made it through the second exam." He smiled at the group in front of him. "Now...we seem to have a small predicament." The Hokage saw the confused looks on the Genin and chuckled. "We have too many participants for the third exam."

"So?" Kiba growled.

The Hokage eyed the young Inuzuka, who hid his face from the old man's look. "So...Mr. Inuzuka, that means we must have a Preliminary Round before the Third Test begins." The Hokage nodded. "I...unfortunately won't be able to attend the Preliminaries. Hokage responsibilities and all." He chuckled. "Your proctor for these Preliminaries will be Gekko Hayate."

Naruto's eyes widened and he smiled at the sickly Jounin. "Hey Hayate-San! How's Yugao-San doing?"

Hayate chuckled and waved at Naruto.

Hiruzen cleared his throat, stopping Naruto's conversation. "I leave you genin to Hayate." he smirked at the group. "Good luck." With that, Hiruzen vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Hayate stepped forward and coughed. "This is how it's going to work." He coughed again. "Two names will appear on the screen, both of which will be random. The two of you will fight until either one or both of you are unable to fight." He saw the genin nod in understanding. "Before the Preliminaries begin, does anyone here want to quit? Now is your only chance to forfeit."

A boy in the back raised his hand. "I quit."

Everyone turned and saw a tall-ish boy with glasses and long, silver hair pulled into a low ponytail. "I'm too weak to continue. I forfeit."

Hayate nodded. "I see. And you are?"

"Yakushi Kabuto." He said with a weak nod.

"Alright. Yakushi Kabuto has forfeited the Chuunin exams and is no longer able to compete. Anyone else want to follow him?" Hayate asked with a cough.

When no one answered, Hayate nodded. "Alright. Everyone up on the platform and we'll begin." Hayate watched the genin and their Jounin instructors walk up the stairs to the platform. "Alright, the first match will be..."

Everyone turned to the screen and watched Names rapidly flash across it. "Akado Yoroi vs. Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke smirked. "This won't take long."

"At least make it interesting." Naruto smirked.

"Always." He chuckled.

"Good luck Sasuke." Hinata smiled.

Sasuke waved at her and walked down the stairs to join Hayate and the genin. Sasuke looked Yoroi up and down, unimpressed. Yoroi was taller than him by at least 4 inches, wore a purple bandana hitai-ate and a purple mask that covered mostof his face. He had circluar sunglasses, much like Shino's, that hid his eyes. While most people would be intimidated by his somewhat threatening appearance, Sasuke wasn't. The raven haired boy looked at Yoroi and smirked. "Try and give me a challenge, okay?"

"You damn brat! I'm going to wipe the floor with you." Yoroi growled.

Hayate looked at both competitors and raised his hand. "Begin!"

Once Hayate was out of the way, Yoroi attacked, his hand glowing with chakra. He reached towards Sasuke, but missed. Yoroi frowned and swiped again. Sasuke dodged but felt one of Yoroi's fingers graze his cheek.

Sasuke flinched when he felt Yoroi's finger. His eyes widened when he felt a small amount of chakra leave his body. _'What the hell?!_

Yoroi smirked. "Looks like you figured it out. If you aren't careful...I can suck all of the chakra out of your body." He chuckled.

Sasuke frowned. He performed a few handsigns and blew a large blast of fire at Yoroi. **"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu." **

Yoroi's eyes widened and dodged the large fireball, but just barely. Yoroi frowned as he stared at the young Uchiha. _'Dammit...this kid's strong. I have to end this quickly.'_ Yoroi's hand began to glow again and he rushed at Sasuke. Sasuke lept away from the attacking nin, dodging every one of Yoroi's attempts to drain his chakra. Yoroi growled at Sasuke and lunged at the younger boy. He managed to get Sasuke to faulter and grabbed Sasuke by the throat.

"Sasuke!" Hinata screamed in horror.

"Come on Sasuke! Kick his ass!" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke coughed as Yoroi choked him and drained his chakra. _'Sh...shit...' _He was losing chakra and oxygen. He _needed_ to get free. Sasuke brought his knee up into Yoroi's gut, forcing him to let go. Sasuke jumped back and took a few deep breaths. "Damn it..." His chakra was depleaded from Yoroi's attack.

Yoroi chuckled. "You shouldn't have underestimated me, brat."

Sasuke smirked. "And you shouldn't continue to underestimate me." Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened thim his Sharingan was activated. Sasuke rushed Yoroi. In the blink of an eye, he was crouching infront of the older genin. Sasuke's foot connected with Yoroi's chin, sending him flying into the air. Sasuke jumped up and began hitting Yoroi with a multitude of punches and kicks. As Yoroi began to fall, Sasuke spun in the air and drove his heel into Yoir's chest, driving him into the ground. **"Lion Combo!"**__

Yoroi lay on the stone floor, unmoving. Sasuke stood up and brushed himself off. "Are we done?"

Hayate appeared and examined Yoroi. He stood up and nodded towards Sasuke. "Winner: Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke smirked and saw his team chearing for him on the platform. He walked up and high fived Naruto. "Told you it wouldn't take long."

Kakashi smirked. "Well done Sasuke. Now you can sit back and enjoy the rest of the fights."

Naruto pouted. "I wish I could have gone first."

Hinata giggled at her crush. "Don't worry Naruto-kun. Your match will come soon."

Naruto nodded and smiled at the bluenette. "Yeah I know." The genin turned back to the small arena when Hayate coughed.

"The next match will be..." He said after his coughs. They all watched the screen flash with names before settling on two. "Nara Shikamaru and Inuzuka Kiba."

Kiba frowned. "I have to fight Lazy-Ass over there? This is going to be an easy fight." He smirked and walked downt he stairs with Akamaru to the arena.

"Hey! You can't use pets in a fight!" Ino shouted.

Kiba bared his fangs and growled at Ino. "Shut up, Blondie! Akamaru isn't just any pet." he smirked.

Hayate nodded. "Akamaru is a ninken, he is eligible to participate in the match."

Shikamaru groaned. "Great...this just makes the fight more troublesome." He took his time going down to the arena where he stood in front of Kiba, staring boredly at the canine-like genin.

Hayate looked at Kiba and Shikamaru and nodded. "Begin."

Kiba lunged at Shikamaru, swiping at the lazy genin. Shikamaru jumped back, avoiding Kiba's sharp claws. Kiba frowned. "Stop dodging me!"

Shikamaru sighed. "Why? I may not want to fight, but it doesn't mean I'm going to roll over and take it like a dog." He smirked.

"BURN!" Naruto yelled from the platform.

Kiba growled and bared his teeth. "You asshole..." Kiba performed the "Tiger" handsign and his body began to glow with chakra. Kiba's body hunched over, forcing him on all fours. His feral features became far more noticeable as his teeth and claws grew longer, his hair shaggier, and his wild eyes formed into slits. **"Beast Mimicry: Four Legs Technique."**__Kiba growled.

Shikamaru's scrunched his eyebrows. _'Just great...' _

Kiba turned to Akamaru and tossed him a small red pill. Akamaru swallowed the pill and his appearance changed as well. He became savage as his snow white fur turned crimson. Akamaru ran over to Kiba and jumped on his back. Kiba performed another "Tiger" handsign and Akamaru burst into a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared Akamaru, who had transformed into another Kiba, was crouching on top of the real Kiba. Kiba smirked. **"Beast human clone."**

Shikamaru's eyes widened. "This just became a lot more troublesome..."

The Kiba attacked, swiping at Shikamaru with their extended claws. Shikamaru dodged the attacks, but found it a lot harder to dodge two faster and stronger Kiba. Shikamaru gasped and hissed in pain when he felt one of Kiba's claws scratch across the chest.

Shikamaru jumped away from the twins. _'Shit...I need to end this or I'm in for some serious trouble.'_ Shikamaru preformed a "Rat" hand sign and his shadow stretched out in front of him. **"Shadow Imitation Technique."**

One of the Kiba's reached into their back pocket and threw a smoke bomb. When the smokescreen faded, Shikamaru's shadow had managed to catch one of the Kiba. _'Now which Kiba did I capture?'_

Shikamaru stared at the Kiba's face. His hands moved in front of his body in what his team called his "thinking pose."

"What's Shikamaru doing?" Hinata blinked.

Sarutobi Asuma, son of the Hokage and Shikamaru's Sensei, chuckled. "Shikamaru's analyzing. It's what he does."

"Why is he analyzing?" Naruto blinked.

"Shikamaru's a genius." Chouji said munching on his chips. "His IQ is ove 200."

His peers and the Jounin's eyes widened.

Shikamaru sighed. "You're Akamaru." he stated boredly.

Akamaru, as Kiba, smirked.

Shikamaru's eyes widened when he heard Kiba yell behind him. **"Passing Fang!"** Shikamaru turned around, which forced Akamaru to turn around as well, his back to Shikamaru. The genius genin saw a tornado spiraling towards him. Shikamaru canceled his Shadow Imitation and jumped out of the way.

Kiba crashed into Akamaru, who had his back turned at the precise moment. The beast clone yelped and returned to his dog form, whimpering on the ground.

"Akamaru!" Kiba cried and ran over to his dog. He picked up his whimpering companion and frowned.

Shikamaru stretched his shadow out again and captured Kiba while he was preoccupied. **"Shadow Imitation Technique."** He said boredly. "Give up Kiba. You can't win while you're possessed."

Kiba growled at Shikamaru. He knew he was beaten. He sighed and looked up at Hayate. "Proctor...I give up."

Hayate nodded. "Inuzuka Kiba has forfeited the match. Nara Shikamaru is the winner."

Chouji and Ino cheered for their teammate, Ino louder than Chouji. Once Shikamaru released Kiba, the two genin walked up the stairs to the platform, ready to watch the next match unfold.

**End Chapter**

**Well? How'd you like it? Please Review! I love reviews!**


	17. The Preliminaries Part 2

**Chapter 16**

**Hey everyone! What goes on? Here's chapter 16! I got it done super fast this time! I'm really proud of myself. The next chapter has been causing me a little bit of problems though. Don't worry! I'll get passed it! **

**I'd like to thank Chibiusa for editing this chapter!**

**Recommandations: "_Precious People"_ by Serious Sam**

**I'm a huge fan of Harry Potter (who isn't?) and my favorite pairing is DracoxHermione. So if you're a Dramione fan, read _"In the Arms of Her Dragon" _by Wolf Blossom. It's an excellent read!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything!**

Kiba walked up the platform wearing a solemn expression.

"Cheer up Kiba. You did very well fighting against Shikamaru." Kurenai praised.

"Not really...he made me forfeit the match." He pouted, still holding onto Akamaru. "I mean...he outsmarted me into hurting Akamaru..." He wasn't necessarily upset about losing the match. He was upset about hurting his long time friend.

Kakashi stepped up next to the genjutsu mistress and smiled at Kiba. "You have to understand Kiba: Shikamaru is a strategist, much like his father."

Kurenai nodded. "He's right, Kiba. Don't be down on yourself. You and Akamaru did wonderfully. If you want, I can take Akamaru to your sister."

Kiba shook his head and smiled at the jounin. "Thanks Sensei. I think Akamaru will be okay. If he gets worse, I'll let you take him to Hana-Neesan." He nodded at the jounin and moved back towards his teammates.

Kurenai nodded and smirked at Kakashi. "Thanks for the back-up Kakashi. You know me: the Jounin who can't take care of her own student." She said sarcastically.

Kakashi chuckled. "I know. But I thought a little man-to-man would be a little more helpful."

"Yes...because we all know you're a man." Kurenai teased sarcastically.

Kakashi placed a hand over his heart, pretending to be wounded. "Oh Kurenai...you wound me with such harsh words." He teased back. Kakashi stole a peek at Kurenai with his visible eye, and smirked.

Kurenai could feel Kakashi's eye watching her. "Why don't you take a picture, Kakashi. It'll last longer."

Kakashi's eye widened and he quickly focused on the arena. Two new names had appeared on the screen.

Hayate spoke. " Rock Lee vs Abumi Zaku."

Lee jumped for joy. "The Flames of Youth shine upon me!" He yelled before leaping down from the platform and landing gracefully on the arena floor.

Zaku made his way down to arena floor. He had visited a medical nin who put his arm back into place and healed it up with a medical jutsu, when his team reached the tower.

Once Zaku was standing in front of Lee, the taijutsu master bowed to the Oto Nin. "It's an honor to fight you. May our match be filled with the Flames of Youth!"

Zaku looked at Lee like he had grown a second head. This kid...

Hayate looked at the two genin and nodded. "Begin!"

Zaku moved first, performing a few handsigns. He thrust his palms forward and fired two large blast of air at Lee. **"Decapacitating Airwaves!"**

Lee jumped out of the way, easily avoiding the blasts of air; but, his ears started ringing. "What is this? Why are my ears ringing?"

Zaku smirked. "These aren't ordinary airwaves. The air is mixed with sound, and I can control how much sound goes into each blast." He chuckled. "If I wanted to, I could render you completely deaf by blowing out your eardrums."

Lee frowned. He stood up and rushed Zaku, who fired off another **Decapacitating Airwave**. Lee dodged again, but his ears were ringing louder than before. He tried to ignore the ringing, but it made him dizzy and uncoordinated.

.

.

"Come on Lee!" TenTen shouted from her spot on the platform. "You can't let this reject beat you!"

Gai smirked next to TenTen. Neji, who stood on the other side of his sensei, looked up at the tall Jounin. "Are you going to allow him to take _them_ off?"

Gai laughed. "No Neji. This opponent isn't worthy of Lee's true potential."

Naruto blinked. "There's more to Lee than this?" He was dumbfounded. Lee was already an intense ninja. How could there possibly be more?

.

.

Zaku smirked. "You be able to do anything how you are. Don't worry, I'll kill you quickly."

Zaku performed a few more handsigns and thrust his hands forward again. **"Decapacitating-"**__Zaku's Zaku's eyes widened when he felt a kunai plug the air tubes which were in his hands. "No!"

The airwaves in the tubes needed to be expelled but because the tubes were plugged the air had no escape routes. Zaku's arms started to bulge with the air. His eyes widened. "NO! No no no!"

Zaku attempted to pull out the kunai; but, before he could, the air exploded from his arms. He screamed as skin, blood, and muscle dripped from his bones, falling to his knees, crying in agony.

Lee stood several feet away, holding a kunai. He had to admit that he was lucky that his aim hadn't been as compromised as he thought, but he hadn't expected his opponent's arms to explode.

Hayate quickly rushed to Zaku and examed the gruesome wound. After a few moments he stood up and coughed. "We need Medic Nin in here immediately. Winner is Rock Lee."

Once the winner was announce, Medic Nin rushed into the arena and placed Zaku, who was still screaming, on a stretcher. After he was taken away, Hayate announced the next match. "Temari vs TenTen." He coughed.

Once both Kunoichi's were standing in the arena, TenTen smiled at the blonde. "It's an honor to fight a fellow kunoichi. May the best woman win."

Temari shook her head. "Don't worry, I will."

"Begin!"

Ten Ten pulled out several shuriken and kunai, throwing them at Temari. Temari rolled her eyes and swung her large fan, blowing the shuriken and kunai away. Ten Ten frowned. _'This is going to be a lot harder than I thought._

Temari chuckled. "Your weapons are useless against me. My fan will just blow them all away." She smirked.

TenTen smirked back. "Not all my weapons." She pulled a scroll from her back pocket, bit her thumb, and slid her blood across the scroll. A large steel staff appeared in a puff of smoke. Ten Ten rushed the blonde and swung down with her staff.

Temari jumped back and swung her fan again. Another gust of wind flew towards TenTen. TenTen stood her ground, trying to withstand the wind. Once the wind passed, Ten Ten lunged again, striking at Temari with her staff that was blocked by the blonde's over-sized fan.

Temari jumped back and swung her fan. **"Wind Release: Win****d Cutter Techniqu****e!"** Small blades of air flew at Ten Ten who yelped in pain when she felt the blades cutting her skin.

Temari smirked. "You can't beat me little girl." She chuckled.

TenTen frowned and pulled out two scrolls. "No one's ever made me use this technique so early." She bit her thumbs, slid her thumbs across the scrolls and threw them up in the air. She jumped up in between the scrolls. **"Twin Rising Dragons!" **

TenTen started grabbing weapon after weapon from the scrolls: kunai, shuriken, maces, kusarigamas, scycles, tantos, came at Temari with deadly aim.

Temari watched as a barrage of weapons came flying towards her. She began to spin her large fan at a high speed, deflecting the weapons as they flew at her.

Each weapon that was deflected, TenTen had one to replace it. But her **Twin Rising Dragons** scrolls only had so many weapons.

Temari frowned. "I'm getting bored of this." Temari opened her fan as she spun it, and gave it a good swing. Wind blew towards Ten Ten, effectively blowing away her **Twin Rising Dragons** scrolls and throwing her off blanace in the air.

Temari smirked. **"Wind Release: Great Task of the Dragon!"** She swung her fan again, and a tornado descended upon TenTen, throwing the leaf kunoichi around like a rag doll.

"TenTen!" Lee yelled from the platform. Lee looked up at his sensei and saw that he had a solemn face.

Neji watched his teammate being thrown by the tornado and felt a sense of dread. _'She's not going to win this fight...'_

TenTen, now unconscious, fell from the tornado and landed on the top of Temari's fan, her body contorted backwards. Temari smirked as she stared at the kunoichi who was sprawled on the top of her fan. "What a weakling." She scoffed and threw the defeated kunoichi off of her fan.

Neji lept from the platform and caught his teammate in mid air and landed in the arena. Lee jumped down next to his comrade. Lee looked beyond angry. "How could you call TenTen a weakling?! She gave you such a youthful match!"

Temari rolled her eyes. "You boys are pathetic. She couldn't even hit me with any of her weapons. It's pathetic." Temari said boredly as she walked up the stairs to join her brothers.

Neji and Lee glared at the Sand kunoichi before joining their sensei. "What should we do Gai-Sensei?" Lee asked looking up at his superior.

Gai smiled. "I'll take TenTen to a medic. You boys stay here." Gai took TenTen from Neji and vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Lee clenched his fists, fire burning in his eyes. "I will make those Sand ninja pay for hurting our comrade."

Neji nodded. "Don't get ahead of yourself Lee. We still have the rest of these matches to go through."

The next match was Shino vs Misumi, who was Kabuto's and Yoroi's teammate.

Kakashi watched the match with little interest. "Your student is quite strong, Kurenai. It seems you helped improve his taijutsu."

Kurenai chuckled. "Of course Kakashi. Thats what a good sensei does."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Are you questioning my teaching methods?"

"Of course not. I'm just stating that I'm a better sensei than you." She smirked teasingly.

Kakashi smirked back. "Oh? Then how about a little wager. It's obvious Shino is going to be the victor of this match. If any of my students make Chuunin, you treat me to dinner."

Kurenai raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why would I take that bet?"

"Are you afraid that I'll run you dry with my appetite?" He said wiggling his visible eyebrow.

Kurenai blushed slightly. "No! Fine! You're on! But if any of my students make Chuunin, I get to burn your Icha Icha Paradise." She smirked.

"No! I won't let that happen again!" He said frantically.

Kurenai blinked. "Again...? What do you mean 'again'?"

Kakashi sighed and explained to Kurenai what happened during the bell test he gave his team when they first graduated. Once he finished, Kurenai was nearly in tears with laughter. "I can't believe you got outsmarted by your genin!"

"Yeah yeah...laugh it up Kurenai. You won't be laughing when you're buying me dinner." He smirked.

Kurenai chuckled. "Alright Kakashi. It's a bet."

Both Jounin turned their attention back to the match. It didn't last much longer, Shino used his insects to drain Misumi's chakra.

Kurenai smiled at her student. "You did a wonderful job, Shino."

Shino nodded his head at his sensei. "Thank you Sensei."

Everyone turned their attention towards the large screen. Hayate coughed. "The next match with be...Kin Tsuchi vs. Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto smirked. "Finally!" Naruto raced down the stairs to the arena. He saw his opponent come down the stairs and he glared at her. "I'm going to make you pay for hurting my friends."

Kin frowned. "Whatever. Your stupid friend put a kunai in my gut."

Naruto chuckled. "Good."

"Begin!"

Kin drew her special senbon and threw them towards the ground. Naruto reacted and threw kunai to counter the senbon. "I was told about your special senbon from my friends. Your tricks wont work on me." He smirked.

Kin hissed. "Crap..." _'What am I going to do against this kid? _

Naruto smirked and performed his signature handsign. **"Shadow Clone Jutsu."** Several Narutos appeared, all of them smirking at Kin. "Attack!"

Kin frowned and pulled out more Senbon. She took aim and threw them at the shadow clones. Many of the shadow clones disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto frowned. _'Looks like I'm going to have to use more than just my shadow clones.'_ Naruto dropped into his Dragon Style taijutsu stance and lunged at Kin. He threw a punch at the Oto kunoichi, who ducked under the punch, and swept Naruto's legs from under him.

Naruto landed on his butt with a frown. _'Okay...her taijutsu is pretty good...I don't want to use __**Burning Ash**__ in here, it's too small.' _Naruto got up and ran towards Kin again, throwing another punch. When Kin ducked under his punch for the second time, Naruto flipped over and brought his foot down on Kin's left collarbone.

Kin fell to the ground, screaming in pain.

Naruto smirked. He saw Kin get up, glaring at him. _'She just won't stay down. Maybe I should exploit her weakness.'_ He smirked. He knew her teammate, Zaku had his arms healed when they reached the tower. So he could only assume she had her stomach healed, as well. _'But I doubt her abdomen is 100%.'_ He smirked. Naruto ran at Kin again, rearing his arm back for a punch.

Kin frowned at Naruto. _'Well...I guess it's time to try it out.' _Kin performed several handsigns. **"Ninja Art: Piercing Echo!" **Kin took a deep breath and let out a shrill scream. A large blast of soundwaves erupted from her mouth and plowed right into Naruto. The blast made the spectators cringe and cover their ears, Kiba and Akamaru finding the sound very painful.

The blast sent Naruto flying right into the stone wall of the arena. Naruto fell from the wall onto his hands and knees. He groaned as he looked up at Kin. "Wh...What was that?"

Kin chuckled. "That's a special jutsu that I learned from a fellow kunoichi." She smirked. "Pretty good huh?" Kin performed the same handsigns and used **Piercing Echo** again.

Naruto's eyes widened and he rolled out of the way. Kin continued screaming at Naruto, the jutsu firing his way. Naruto dodged each attempt. _'How am I going to get out of this?'_

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.

Hinata watched her crush fight the Oto kunoichi with worry. Her **Piercing Echo** was giving the blond trouble. "You can do it Naruto-kun!" She cheered for her crush.

Sasuke stood next to Hinata and sighed. "Unless he can figure out a way past that jutsu, I don't know if Naruto's going to win." he frowned.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that Sasuke." Kakashi said, coming up behind his students.

"Why do you say that, Sensei?" Hinata blinked. She believed in Naruto, but she was wondering what Kakashi meant.

"Naruto's got a little something up his sleeve." He chuckled. Back in Wave, when everyone had been training, Kakashi decided on a little special training for Naruto.

_**~FLASHBACK~**_

"_How are you feeling Kakashi-Sensei?" Naruto asked with a smile._

"_Better. Almost fully healed." He chuckled. "Naruto...do you know what this is?" He said holding out a piece of paper._

"_Uh...paper?" He asked confused._

_Kakashi sighed. "Yes Naruto...paper. But it isn't ordinary paper. It's chakra paper."_

_Naruto nodded. "Oh okay! Chakra paper allows you to see what kind of elemental affinity you have, right?"_

_Kakashi nodded. "Correct. While your **Shadow Clone Jutsu** and **Burning Ash** are very powerful, you can't rely on them. You need other skills in your repitoir." Kakashi explained._

_Naruto nodded. "Alright! So what do I have to do?"_

"_Just pour a little bit of chakra onto the paper, and depending on the reaction, it will tell you what element you have an affinity for."_

_Naruto nodded and did as he was told. After pouring a little chakra into the paper, the paper sliced right down the center._

_Kakashi chuckled. "Just as I thought. You have the affinity for wind."_

_Naruto smiled. "Cool! So...when do I get to start training with my affinity?" He was bouncing with anticipation._

"_Right now." Kakashi chuckled. He reached into his travel pack and pulled out several scrolls. "These are scrolls for some low to mid-level wind jutsus. Study up and practice when you're out training with Hinata and Sasuke." He nodded._

_Naruto smiled. "Thanks Kakashi-Sensei."_

_**~End Flashback~**_

"Wait...so...you taught Naruto wind jutsus?" Sasuke asked with a frown.

"Well...not really He taught himself wind jutsus. I just gave him the tools to learn them." Kakashi gave Sasuke his signiture "U" eye.

Sasuke's eye twitched. "Isn't that playing favorites?"

Kakashi chuckled. "Don't get your undies in a twist, Sasuke. You and Hinata have an advantage over Naruto. You both have dojutsus, which Naruto does not have. You, Sasuke, are able to perform high level fire jutsus at 13. Hinata is very proficient in her clan's taijutsu and is currently training in special jutsus to incorporate the Jyuuken. Naruto just needed a little extra help. And thats what I gave him."

Sasuke turned back to the match, unable to argue Kakashi's explanation. He and Hinata did have an advantage over Naruto, even with the Kyuubi residing inside him. Sasuke watched Naruto dodge Kin's **Piercing Echo**. _'Well Naruto...show us what you've learned.'_ He smirked.

Hinata watched her crush and smiled. _'Come on can do it. I know you can.'_

_._

_._

Naruto dodged another blast and frowned. _'How the hell am I supposed to stop her?'_

"_**Seriously Kit...do I have to help you in every fight?"** _Kyuubi said boredly.

Naruto frowned. "_Whatever. Do you have any suggestions, Furball?"_ He thought angerly as he dodged another blast.

"_**You truly are an idiot." **_Kyuubi sighed. **_"Just use the techniques your sensei taught you."_**

_'How could I be so stupid?!' _Naruto mentally facepalmed. He watched as another blast came towards him. He clapped his hands together, a large blast of wind shot at the sound blast. **"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"** The sound blast was intercepted by Naruto's blast of wind, and the sound dispersed. Naruto clapped his hands again, sending another **Gale Palm** at Kin. The blast of wind sent Kin flying into the arena wall.

Kin groaned as she slid down the arena wall. She struggled to get up. _'D-Dammit! If I don't do something soon...I'm going to lose.'_

Naruto didn't let Kin recover and performed the "Ram" handsign. **"Wind Release: Divine Wind!"** The air in the arena began to swirl in the arena, and formed three small tornadoes. The tornadoes spun towards Kin, and collided with the Oto kunoichi.

Kin screamed as she was hurled around the arena before landing on the stone floor with a loud thud. Naruto walked over and saw she was unconscious. He let out a sigh of relief. _'Thank God.'_

"**_You need to start using your brain. I can't always be there to bail you out."_** Kyuubi chuckled.

"_You didn't do anything!"_

"_**I reminded you that you had other options."**_ Kyuubi smirked.

"Winner Uzumaki Naruto!" Hayate smirked. Naruto smiled at Hayate, who nodded back.

Naruto raced upstairs and smiled. "Aw yeah! I did it!"

Sasuke shook his head. "Well done Dobe."

Hinata smiled. "You did a great job Naruto-kun." She said with a small blush.

Naruto smiled brightly. "Thanks guys. Now all you gotta do is win, Hinata-Chan. Then all three of us are in the Third Exams." He said putting his arm around her shoulders.

Hinata blushed. "Y-Yeah..."

Naruto smirked. _'Did you just stutter Hinata-Chan?'_

Hayate coughed, gaining Team Seven's attention. "The next match will be Hyuuga Neji vs..."

**~End Chapter**

**Hope you enjoyed the fights! The next chapter should be finished soon...I hope. Reviews are loved! Till next time!**

**~Lu lu-Chan**


	18. The End of the Preliminaries

**Chapter 17**

**Hey everyone! How's it going? Here it is! Chapter 17! I hope you liked my last chapter! Personally...this is my favorite chapter to date! There's so much in this chapter!And it's my longest one in a while! So I hope you enjoy it!**

**A very special thanks to Chibiusa, my beta! I very much appreciate her editing skills!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!**

**.**

**.**

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"The next match with Hyuuga Neji vs...Akamichi Chouji." Hayate coughed.

Chouji's eyes widened and his bag of chips slipped from his hands. "Wait...what?" Chouji asked in disbelief. "I...I have to fight Neji?!" He swallowed nervously. The large genin watched the Hyuuga genius walk to the arena floor with worry.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Oh, get down their Chouji! You can totally knock that Neji kid around!" She smiled at her teammate.

Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji's parents were all teammates and best of friends, so naturally their children would become a close knit group. What a lot of people didn't know was that even though Shikamaru and Chouji were best friends, Ino and Chouji were very close with each other. Chouji was always there for Ino whenever Sasuke would turn her down for a date, and whenever Chouji would get called fat by a bully, Ino would be there for him with a snack, albeit a healthy one.

Chouji blushed and nodded. "Alright. I'll try." Chouji didn't like to fight, but he would do his best here. He took a deep breath and walked down to the arena.

Neji and Chouji bowed to each other before they took their respective taijutsu stances.

"Begin!" Hayate yelled.

Neji struck first with his Jyuuken Style. Chouji's eyes widened and quickly performed a handsign. **"Multi-Size Technique!"** Chouji's entire body expanded and turned round.

Neji hit Chouji's larger body with his Jyuuken Strike, his hand bouncing off the large body. "What?!"

Chouji smirked. "My clan's special jutsu allows any sort of taijutsu to bounce right off of me! Even your Jyuuken!"

"YEAH! GO CHOUJI!" Ino yelled from the platform.

Chouji blushed brightly, but kept his eyes on Neji. "Your special taijutsu won't beat me!"

Neji smirked. "Yes it will." He chuckled. He saw the confused look on Chouji's face and elaborated. "The one that was rebounded had no chakra in it, but should I hit you with a chakra infused strike, it would dispel your technique and render you helpless. " He smirked. Neji didn't want to injure Chouji. He was a fellow Konoha genin and he was a peaceful boy. He was going to win the fight without injuring Chouji, or at least try to.

Chouji frowned. _'I can't give him the opportunity to strike me then!' _Chouji tuck in his head, arms, and legs. **"Human Bullet Tank!"** His body started spinning rapidly and launched himself at Neji. Neji jumped over Chouji, dodgin his attack. Chouji spun around and launched himself back at Neji.

Neji crouched down slightly. **"Rotation!" **Neji started spinning, creating a dome of chakra around him.

Chouji crashed into the **Rotation**, and was thrown by the technique. His **Human Bullet Tank** dispersed and crashed into the arena wall. Chouji slid down the wall with a groan.

After a few moments of waiting, Chouji didn't stand up and Hayate declared Neji the winner.

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Hinata gasped.

"What's the matter Hinata-Chan?" Naruto blinked.

"Neji-Niisan knows the **Rotation**..." She said in disbelief.

"So?" The blond blinked.

Kakashi decided to intervene. "The **Rotation** is a high level jutsu that only the Main Hyuuga members know." He nodded. "Neji truly is a genius."

Hinata nodded, and bit her lip. _'Neji-Niisan is so strong...'_

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Hayate had Medic Nin take Chouji away on a stretcher before calling out the next match. "The next match will be...Kankuro vs Yamanaka Ino."

Kankuro smirked. "It's about damn time!" He walked down to the arena, holding onto a large...thing, covered in bandages with hair on the top of it.

Ino smirked. "Aw yeah! I'm totally going to own this Suna chump!" She ran down to the arena and stood infront of Kankuro.

Kankuro rolled his eyes. "This isn't going to last long."

"Begin!" Hayate called.

Ino reached into her pouch and threw several kunai at Kankuro. Kakuro rolled his eyes. As the kunai were just about to pierce his chest, the kunai swun around and flew back at Ino. Ino's eyes widened and she dodged the kunai. "What the-" Ino was interupted by the kuni swinging back around, flying towards her again.

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"What's going on?" Naruto blinked. "How can he control Ino's kunai?"

"Chakra thread." Shikamaru stated boredly. "Not many ninja can use chakra thread this well."

"Why?" Ten Ten asked.

Kurenai answered. "Puppet mastery is a lost ninja art. There are very few puppet masters left in the world." She sighed. "The ablility to use chakra thread takes a lot of chakra control and years of training."

Shikamaru nodded. "Ino's in for a very troublesome fight."

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The fight didn't last much longer. Ino attempted her **Mind Body Switch Technique**, but instead of taking control of Kankuro's mind, she took control of his puppet, Crow, who was still controlled by Kankuro's chakra thread. When Ino dispelled her **Mind Body Switch Technique**, she wasn't able to move her tattered body.

After Ino was taken away by the Medic Nin, Hayate announced the next match. "The next match will be...Haruno Sakura vs. Hyuuga Hinata."

Hinata glanced over at the pinkette. She turned to Naruto, a worried expression on her face. "She helped us take on the Oto genin..."

Naruto nodded. "Hey...don't worry about it!" He smiled and placed a conforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't think of it as some fight to the death, consider it a friendly spar between two friends "

Sasuke nodded. "But don't go easy on her." He smirked.

Hinata giggled. "Alright. Thanks Naruto-kun." She blushed slightly and walked down to the arena.

Once both kunoichi were on the arena floor, they bowed to each other and stood in their respectful stances.

"Begin!"

Hinata smiled at Sakura. "Sakura...Thank you for helping me and my friends against those Oto nin back in the forest. However...this is a competition. Despite us being allies, I won't be losing this match."

Sakura chuckled. "And I have to thank you, Hinata. If it wasn't for you and your team, I wouldn't have realized how serious the life of a shinobi is." She nodded. "So I should let you know...I won't lose without a fight."

Hinata nodded. "Understood."

Sakura rushed forward and threw a punch aimed at Hinata's head. Hinata blocked the punch with a Jyuuken Strike. The two kunoichi traded strikes before Hinata did a low spin kick, knocking Sakura off her feet.

Sakura huffed and got back up. "I won't lose here Hinata!" Sakura began a multitude of handsigns. **"Flower Ninja Art: Mirror Flower Water!"** Flower petals began to fall, surrounding Hinata in a small tornado.

Hinata blinked as she looked at the flower petals as her surroundings began to darken. Hinata frowned. _'A Sakura?'_ Hinata dispelled the genjutsu, and noticed Sakura was nowhere in sight.

Hinata was taken by surprise when she heard Sakura's yell behind her. Hinata jumped out of the way of Sakura's punch. She noticed when Sakura's fist connected with the ground, it left a good size crack in the arena floor. Hinata's eyes widened. _'She's strong...'_

Sakura smirked and performed the "Snake" hand sign. Sakura's body dispersed into an explosion of sakura blossoms. Hinata frowned. _'Another genjutsu? Seriously?'_ Hinata was beginning to wonder if Sakura really had changed. Another tornado of sakura blossoms surrounded Hinata, and her surroundings turned dark again. She dispelled the genjutsu and the tornado dispelled, but she was still in the dark. _'What? What's going on?'_

A very large sakura blossom appeared under Hinata. The blossom quickly swallowed Hinata up and exploded. Hinata yelled in pain as she was thrown across the arena floor. Hinata groaned as she looked up at Sakura. "You...hit me with a genjutsu." She stated with a frown. Hinata stood up slowly, being mindful of her sudden soreness and burns.

Sakura smirked. ""Kurenai-Sensei says I have a knack for genjutsu. I know it's hard to get a genjutsu passed the Byakugan, so I decided to lace a second genjutsu in my first one. Once you dispelled the first, the second instantly took effect."

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Kurenai looked down at the match with a proud smirk. "Looks like Hinata forgot to look underneath the underneath."

Kakashi hid a pout. "Don't be so confident in your student, Kurenai. Don't count Hinata out yet." He smirked.

Kurenai raised an eyebrow at Kakashi and smirked back. "Alright Kakashi. How about we make our bet a little more interesting."

"Oh? And what do you have in mind?" He looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Let's not wait to see whose student is promoted to Chuunin. If Hinata wins, I'll buy you dinner; restaurant of your choice." She smirked.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And if Sakura were to win?"

Kurenai thought for a moment and smirked. "I won't burn your Icha Icha books," She saw Kakashi visibly relax. "However...I am taking away every Icha Icha book you own, and keeping them from you for a month." She smirked. "And...you cook me dinner."

Kakashi chuckled. "You're on."

Kurenai raised an eyebrow. "You're not concerned?"

Kakashi shook his head. "Well...I am an excellent cook. So you won't have to worry about eating instant ramen." He chuckled. "And...you're not going to win." He said with his signature "U" eye.

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Hinata knelt into her Jyuuken Stance, ready to strike the pinkette. Sakura frowned and started forming hand signs. Hinata frowned as well. _'I can't let her finish.'_ Hinata charged Sakura and struck at her opponent.

Sakura blocked Hinata's attacks, smirking at each block. Suddenly, she couldn't feel chakra flowing through her arms. "What..."

Hinata smirked. "As Neji-Niisan explained to Chouji-San, I can control the amount of chakra in each strike. Even though you've been blocking my attacks, I was able to close off your tenketsu."

Sakura gasped as she looked down at her arms. There were small bruises where some of her tenketsu were. "You...You shut off the chakra flow into my hands so I couldn't perform genjutsu."

When Hinata nodded, Sakura growled and threw a punch at her. Hinata blocked the attack and struck another tenketsu in Sakura's arm. Sakura gasped in pain and yanked her arm away from Hinata. Her arms were sore, limp, and covered with bruises. _'How am I going to beat Hinata now?'_ She frowned, and ran towards Hinata. If she couldn't use her arms, she would use her legs. She jumped in the air and drove her foot down towards Hinata.

Hinata dodged the kick, and struck a tenketsu in Sakura's knee. The pinkette yelped and fell to her injured knee. Hinata smirked. "You shouldn't push yourself any further, Sakura. You won't be able to move that leg from you knee down."

Sakura frowned. Hinata was right; she couldn't feel anything passed her knee. She looked up at the bluenette and sighed. "I forfeit."

Hayate coughed and nodded. "Winner: Hyuuga Hinata."

"YEAH! ALRIGHT! WAY TO GO HINATA-CHAN!" Naruto cheered from the platform.

Hinata blushed brightly and walked over to Sakura and gave her a small bow. "Thank you for the challenge."

Sakura blinked. "Why are you thanking me?" Sakura asked suspiciously.

"Because of our fight, it shows I need improvement." Hinata knelt down next to Sakura and released her tenketsu.

"But you won." Sakura groaned as she stood up.

Hinata stood next to her and smiled. "True...but you got a genjutsu passed my Byakugan. That means I need to improve my Byakugan." She held out her hand to Sakura.

Sakura looked at Hinata's hand for a few moments before taking the bluenette's hand.

The two girls walked back up to their teams, smiling.

"You did an awesome job Hinata-Chan!" Naruto said hugging the Hyuuga.

Hinata's face turned a bright pink as she let the blond hug her. "Uh...th-thanks Naruto-kun..." She said fumbling with the hem of her ninja dress.

Once Naruto let her go, Sasuke stepped forward and nodded at his teammate. "You fought well."

"Thanks Sasuke." She smiled. She looked over the Uchiha's shoulder and saw Sakura being congratulated and comforted by her teammates.

"It looks like Sakura's finally starting to take the shinobi life seriously." Naruto smirked.

"So it seems." Sasuke said boredly.

"Does that mean you're going to say 'yes' when she asks you out again?" Naruto snickered.

"God no!" Sasuke frowned. "She may have gotten her act together, but she's still way too annoying for me." He shivered.

His teammates chuckled and turned back to the arena, where Dosu and Gaara were standing.

"Begin!" Hayate coughed.

Dosu thrust his arms forward to send a blast of sound at Gaara, but his arms were stopped. Dosu looked down and saw sand surrounding his arms.

.

.

Naruto's eyes widened. "Oh no..."

Sasuke and Hinata frowned. "He's going to die." Sasuke stated bluntly.

Kakashi blinked and turned to his team. "You think so?"

Naruto nodded. "We've seen it before..."

.

.

The sand completely enveloped Dosu, who was screaming in pain.

The sand began to contract, squeezing Dosu tight as it crushed him, his blood splattering onto the ground. Several gasps echoed through the arena as the sand crushed Dosu's body, blood splattering on the ground. The sand slithered off Dosu's body, which plummeted to the ground. Everyone stared in horror at Dosu's crumpled, bloody, lifeless body.

"Winner...Gaara..." Hayate said hesitantly.

Everyone watched Gaara slowly make his way back up the platform.

Medic nin ran onto the arena, covered Dosu's body with a white sheet, put him on a stretcher, and quickly left.

Hayate coughed and walked to the center of the arena, rolling a small white board with him. "This concludes the Preliminaries. Can all the victors please come down to the arena?"

All the winners walked down the steps and stood in front of Hayate. "Alright." Hayate grabbed a small box from behind the board. "In this box are numbers. These numbers will determine who you will face in the Third Exam." Everyone nodded and picked their numbers out of the box.

Hayate wrote all the names on the board and turned to the genin with a cough. "These are the matches for the Third Exams:

Match 1: Nara Shikamaru vs Temari." Shikamaru looked over to the Suna kunoichi and groaned. _'I have to fight a woman? How troublesome...'_

"Match 2: Aburame Shino vs Kankuro." Shino and Kankuro looked at one another, Kankuro glaring at the Aburame.

"Match 3: Uchiha Sasuke vs Rock Lee."

Lee jumped for joy. "YOSH! Uchiha-San and I are going to have a most youthful match!"

"Match 4: Hyuuga Neji vs Hyuuga Hinata." Hinata looked at Neji, looking slightly apprehensive. Neji smirked and nodded at Hinata. She sighed and nodded back

"And finally Match 5: Gaara vs Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly and turned to look at Gaara. Gaara was staring boredly at him, then a sinister smirk appeared on his face.

Naruto frowned and glared back. "_He must really want to fight me."_

"**_He's not the only one who's itching for a fight. I'm sure Shukaku wants a rematch."_** Kyuubi sighed.

"_How powerful is Shukaku compared to you?"_ Naruto asked.

"_**He's nothing compared to me."**_ Kyuubi smirked. **_"Our power comes from out tails. The more tails the demon has, the more powerful it is."_**

"_So Shukaku is the weakest."_

"_**Compared to the rest of us...yes. However...his bloodlust is nothing to laugh at. He goes berserk when he's on the hunt."**_ Kyuubi explained. **_"Pray that Gaara is able to contain Shukaku."_**

"_Somehow...I seriously doubt it. He's just as bloodthirsty as you're making Shukaku sound..." _Naruto frowned.

"_**If Shukaku is released and goes on a rampage...It'll take more than just your village to stop him."**_ Kyuubi frowned.

"_Fantastic..."_

"Naruto-kun?"

Naruto blinked and turned to Hinata. She was looking at him slightly worried. Sasuke was looking at him slightly confused. "Sorry...I was talking to Kyuubi. What'd I miss?"

"We have a month to train for the Third Exams." Sasuke explained. "And...if we want to leave this area safely, we have to follow Kakashi-Sensei."

Naruto nodded. "Alright." Naruto smiled at his team. "How about some dinner? We can talk about a training routine."

Hinata smiled. "That sounds good, Naruto-kun."

Sasuke nodded. "Fine with me."

The team left with Kakashi, and reached town shortly after leaving the tower. They walked up to Ichiraku Ramen and ordered their favorite bowl.

"Should we train together? Or by ourselves?" Naruto asked as he slurped up some noodles.

"Well..." Hinata said running a hand through her growing hair. "I don't think we should." She said a little sadly. "Because we might have to face each other in the third round."

"Hinata's right. While you guys are my teammates and friends, we might become enemies in the Third Exams." Sasuke nodded. 

"Wait...did you just call us your friends?" Naruto smirked.

"Shut up Naruto! That's not the point here!" Sasuke blushed angrily. "The point is...if we do go up against each other in the Third Exams, I want to be able to surprise you guys with how much I've improved." He smirked.

Naruto nodded. "Alright. I guess I kinda feel the same way. I don't want you guys knowing all my secrets either." He smirked.

Hinata giggled at her two friends. "But...even though we're going to train separately...We'll still meet up for lunch or dinner sometime?"

Naruto smiled. "Of course Hinata-chan! We're a team! And according to Sasuke," He teased. "We're all friends!" He said putting an arm around the Hyuuga girl.

Hinata blushed and nodded. "Yeah...friends..."

The team continued with their meal when an ANBU with an owl mask appeared beside them. "Uchiha Sasuke?"

Sasuke turned around and blinked. "Yes?"

"The Hokage wishes to see you." Owl said bluntly.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Uh okay...why?"

"I'm just relaying a message Uchiha-San." Owl said before shunshining away.

Sasuke frowned. "Well...I guess I should see what he wants." He said his goodbyes, paid for his food and left.

Hinata smiled. "I guess I should be leaving too. Father and the Elders would like to know how the Preliminaries went." She sighed. She knew the Elders would probably take her victory well...but she wasn't so sure about her father.

Naruto nodded. "Would you like an escort home?" He smiled.

Hinata blushed and nodded. "Thank you Naruto-kun."

Naruto paid for their food and the duo left. Naruto did most of the talking on the way to the Hyuuga Compound. When they got there, Naruto smiled at Hinata and hugged her.

Hinata gasped and turned bright red. "N-Naruto-kun?"

Naruto pulled away slowly and gave her a gentle smile. "Train hard, Hinata-chan."

Hinata's face was turning redder by the second. "I-I will. I promise."

Naruto nodded and smiled. "See ya later, Hinata-chan." Naruto turned and started his trek home.

Hinata was on Cloud Nine. She walked into her house, almost dancing.

"Onee-san!"

Hinata blinked, coming out of her bliss and saw Hanabi running towards her. "Hanabi-chan!" She smiled and hugged her sister.

Hanabi smiled. "Did you pass? Huh? Huh?! Did you pass?!"

Hinata chuckled at her sister's enthusiasm. "Yes, I did."

Hanabi gasped and hugged her sister tighter. "I knew you could do it! You'll become a Chuunin for sure, Onee-san!"

Hinata chuckled again. "Thanks Hanabi-chan. Where's Otou-Sama and the Elders?"

"They're in the Otou-Sama's office waiting for you." She said hesitantly. "Neji-Oniisan is in there, too."

Hinata blinked. _'Why would Neji-Niisan be in there?'_ She sighed and smiled at her younger sister. "Alright. I'm going to see them now. I'll see you in a little while, Hanabi-chan."

Hanabi nodded and walked off to her room. Hinata sighed and made her way to her father and the Elders. Once she reached her father's office, she knocked and waited for a reply.

"Enter." Hiashi said calmly.

Hinata opened the door and stepped in, closing the door behind her. Hiashi's office was fairly large. There was a beautiful mahogany desk at the far end of the room, and in the center of the room was a large, low table and sitting pillows around it. Hinata bowed to her father and the Elders before taking the empty pillow next to Neji. "You wished to see me, Otou-Sama?"

Hiashi nodded. "Yes. The Elders and I wish to speak to you and Neji about your performances in the previous exams."

"Neji...we're going to evaluate your performance first." Haru, Neji's and Hinata's grandfather, said. Neji nodded, and Haru continued.

"We heard from your sensei that it took you passed the first exam with flying colors." He said with a nod. "You managed to gather the information without any indication of "cheating." Haru looked up at Neji and smirked. "Very well done Neji."

"Thank you, Ojii-Sama." Neji bowed his head.

"For the second exam, you and your team took three days to gather your scroll and make it to the tower." Haru read aloud. "Not bad, Neji. Despite being a part of the Branch Family, you completed your test in good time."

Neji gritted his teeth. He hated being branded as the Branch Family. He was just as good, if not better than most of the Main Family shinobi. And while he and Hinata had grown close, he knew he was better than her as well. The only reason he was getting such praise from his family was because he was a part of the Branch Family, and the Branch Family were supposed to be mediocre, even though they were still Hyuuga.

"In the Preliminaries, your sensei wrote how you managed to defeat Akamichi Chouji using the **Rotation**." Haru looked up from the report and gave Neji a proud smile. "I must say Neji...for someone of your age to be able to successfully use the **Rotation**, and as part of the Branch Family, no less...your title as a genius suits you well. Your father would be proud."

Neji's breath hitched and he bowed his head again. "Thank you Ojii-Sama."

"Now Hinata." Hiashi frowned. "Your performance in this exam has been...less than impressive."

Hinata's eyes widened slightly. She watched her father pull our her team's report on the exams.

Hiashi looked at his daughter, his eyes narrowed. "In the first exam, you answered every question correctly after gathering the needed information. You...as well, didn't have any marks against you." He frowned.

Hinata inwardly smirked. _'Have nothing bad to say about me Otou-Sama?'_

"While it is expected of you to have such an...admirable score, you cannot allow yourself to tie with a Branch member." He scolded.

Hinata flinched and sighed. _'Spoke too soon.' _"Otou-Sama...Neji-Niisan is very smart. We also have the Byakugan. We had an even playing field when it came to that exam." She explained.

"Onto the second exam." Hiashi said dismissively. "It says here your team was the second team to arrive to the tower. Why were you not the first?" He frowned. "Your team consists of you and the Uchiha."

Hinata frowned at her father's purposely leaving Naruto out.

"Your team is biologically stronger than the others. You should have been the first team to arrive."

Hinata frowned. "Our team was attacked by...a very strong opponent and we had to recuperate. The team that beat us to the tower has a genin that killed his way through the test. We did what we had to to avoid the team." Hinata frowned at her father. There was no reasoning with him.

"But these tests aren't the most disappointing things about your performance. It says here you fought Haruno Sakura in the Preliminaries." He frowned back at his daughter. "And it says you fell prey to a genjutsu."

Hinata flinched slightly. She was already embarrassed that she fell for that genjutsu. She didn't need her father adding salt to the wound.

"This is unacceptable!" Hiashi yelled. "Hyuuga's don't fall for a genjutsu!"

Hinata kept her head down as her father yelled.

"Hiashi." Came one of the elders.

Everyone turned to an elderly woman. It was her Great-Aunt Holo.

"You shouldn't be so hard on your daughter. Her progress up to this point is quite remarkable." Holo explained. "No one is perfect."

Hiashi frowned. "Maybe...but she is the Heiress of our clan. She needs to prove her strength as an heiress and I have yet to see it."

"She has proven it!" Neji yelled.

Everyone stared in shock at Neji's outburst. Hiashi frowned at his nephew. "Oh? And how has she proven it?"

Neji frowned back at his uncle. "That strong opponent Hinata-Sama faced in the forest-"

"Neji-Niisan." Hinata placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "Please...don't." Hinata shook her head.

"Hinata-Sama...they need to know!" He frowned.

"Yes Hinata...we deserve to know who this "strong opponent" is." Hiashi smirked darkly at his daughter.

Hinata bit her lower lip. She didn't want her family to know about this...

"Neji...please continue." Hiashi motioned for Neji to continue.

Neji glared at Hiashi. "The strong opponent Hinata-Sama faced was the Legendary Sannin Orochimaru."

Silence filled the room. No one said a word for several moments until Hiashi cleared his throat. "Forgive me Neji...but you expect us to believe that Hinata fought the Ultimate Traitor of Konoha?" He gave Neji a suspicious look.

"It's true!" Neji frowned. "Her entire team faced him!" He said firmly. "Forgive me for my rudeness Hiashi-Sama, but even with the Byakugan you're blind to your daughter's strength."

Hiashi gave Neji a dark look. "You are out of line Neji."

Neji frowned back at his uncle. Hinata looked at her family members and intervened. "Otou-Sama...Neji-Niisan...it doesn't matter now." She said with a sigh. "Otou-Sama is right...it's an embarrassment as a Hyuuga to fall to a genjutsu."

Hiashi smirked. "Indeed. Now-"

"However!" Hinata said raising her voice at her father. "I am a strong kunoichi. I have trained for countless hours to prove to you how strong I am!" Hinata's faced was flushed red with anger and tears were threatening to fall. "You don't treat me like a daughter...you treat me like a tool! Unless I prove myself useful, you want nothing to do with me!" Tears finally fell, trickling down her cheeks. "I don't have to prove to you how strong I am, or how strong I will become. I only have to prove it to myself!" She stood up, glaring down at her father. "You are not a father, Otou-Sama...you're a dictator. And I will not allow you to dictate my life any longer." She frowned and stormed out of her father's office.

Neji glared at his uncle before following Hinata out of the office.

Hiashi watched the children leave, completely dumbfounded. He turned to the Elders and saw that they looked quite unhappy.

Holo stood up and walked towards the office door. "I implore you Hiashi, to take your daughter's words to heart. You could have very well lost your daughter in those woods, and you could have very well lost her again tonight."

Hiashi watched the Elder leave and the other Elders followed suit. All except for his father.

Haru moved to his son and knelt next to him. "You shouldn't be so hard on her Hiashi."

"But I must, Otou-Sama. If she is to be strong enough to take over the clan-"

"But she is, Hiashi. And that's what you don't see." Haru frowned.

"What do you mean?" Hiashi asked with a frown.

"Hinata is much like her mother. She's fair, honest, caring, determined, and strong." Haru nodded. "She may not rule with an iron fist like you or I have, but she'll be fair. She'll take care of the clan with every fiber of her being." He nodded.

"Old age has made you soft, Otou-Sama." Hiashi sighed.

"Maybe. But old age has also opened my eyes. Especially after your brother died." Haru frowned.

Hiashi stiffened. Despite what Hiashi portrayed on the outside...he had a soft spot for his younger twin.

"Hiashi...when you and Hizashi were born, it was both the happiest and saddest days of my life." Haru sighed. "I had an heir to the Hyuuga Clan, and I had two beautiful sons. But that also meant branding one of my children to the Branch Family." Haru said grimly. "Back then...I didn't fight our laws, but now I wish I did. If I fought Hizashi's branding, he could be with us today."

Haru took a few deep breaths and continued. "Hinata is going to bring about change Hiashi. Change that is desperately needed. Give her a chance Hiashi. Let her show you how strong she's become."

Hiashi listened to his father and felt his heart clench slightly. "Perhaps...I have been too hard on Hinata."

Haru nodded. "It's alright to be tough on her Hiashi. It makes her strive to be strong. But give praise when it is due. And show her that you do care."

Hiashi nodded. "I will try, Otou-Sama."

.

.

Naruto made it back to his apartment and threw himself on his bed. "Why do I feel this way...?"

"_**It's part of human nature, Kit. You're bound to feel attraction to your mate sooner or later."** _Kyuubi snickered.

"M-Mate?! Hinata-chan is not my mate!" Naruto panicked.

"_**Not yet."**_

"She'll never be my mate! She's...she's Hinata-chan!"

"_**So?"**_

"SO! She's a Hyuuga! And I'm...I'm just...orphan, Kyuubi-Container Naruto..." Naruto said with a sigh.

Kyuubi groaned. _**"Oh my God...So what if you're Kyuubi-Container Naruto?! You're also son of Uzumaki Kushina AND Namikaze Minato!" **_Kyuubi roared. _**"You need to start having some of that confidence you constantly display!"**_

Naruto blinked. "Why are you helping me?"

"_**Because I'm fucking sick and tired of your pity party! You are Uzumaki Naruto: son of the greatest Hokage Konoha has ever known! You contain the strongest of all the demons! Start acting like it!"**_

Naruto lay in his bed, staring at his ceiling. "What do I tell her?"

"_**Just tell her you like her. Plain and simple."**_ Kyuubi shrugged.

Naruto groaned. "It's not that simple." He said dragging his hand over his face.

"_**How is it not simple? All you have to do is ask her out."**_ Kyuubi sighed.

"But-"

"_**Just do it! Ask her to lunch or dinner or something! It's not fucking hard, Kit!" **_Kyuubi growled.

Naruto sighed. "Fine..." He continued to stare up at the ceiling, a small smile gracing his lips.

.

.

Sasuke reached the Hokage's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Sasuke opened the door and saw the old Sandaime sitting behind his desk. "An ANBU said you wanted to see me, Hokage-Sama?" Sasuke asked closing the door behind him.

Hiruzen nodded. "Yes I did Sasuke. I heard you made it past the Preliminaries. Congratulations." He smiled.

Sasuke nodded. "Thank you. Uh...not to sound rude, but how come you wanted to see me?"

Hiruzen chuckled and pulled out his pipe. "Sasuke...how do you plan on training for the upcoming matches?"

Sasuke thought for a moment. "I was going to ask Kakashi-Sensei to train me."

The Hokage nodded. "Well...Kakashi would be more than happy to train you."

Sasuke blinked. "Seriously?"

Hiruzen chuckled. "Indeed. I've already asked Kakashi to train you for your match...along with someone else."

Sasuke blinked again. "Someone else? Who?"

"You can come out now."

Sasuke heard footsteps behind him and turned around. Sasuke's eyes widened.

"...A-Aniki?"

**End Chapter!**

**OOOOOOH! What do you guys think?! I hope you enjoyed it! Please review! Reviews are always nice! **

**~Lu lu-Chan25**


	19. The Great Toad Sage!

**Chapter 18**

**Hows it goin everyone? I'm back! Sorry it took so long to bring up this chapter. I've had a lot of issues with this chapter, writer's block-wise, and I've had a lot of trouble with work and finding new work and blah blah blah. It's just been a hellish time since I posted my last chapter. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter!**

**I would love to thank my beta Chibiusa! She really helped me out!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!**

**The Great Toad Sage!**

Naruto woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. He ate his breakfast and got ready for his day. Naruto put on his sandals and left his apartment with a skip in his step.

"_**Why are you so happy?"** _Kyuubi asked quietly.

"_Well...today I'm going to start training for my match." _Naruto smiled.

"_**Anything else?"**_ Kyuubi smirked.

Naruto blushed slightly as he scratched the back of his head. _"Yeah...probably."_

"_**What are you going to do to train for your match?"**_ Kyuubi asked boredly.

"_Well...I was going to ask Kakashi-Sensei if he would train me. He could really help me work on my Dragon Style, and maybe even teach me a few new ninjutsu." _Naruto nodded. Naruto reached Kakashi's apartment and knocked on the door.

After a few moments Kakashi opened the door. "Hello Naruto. Can I help you with something?" He said as he pulled out his Icha Icha Paradise.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the book. "I see you uh...replaced your book."

Kakashi looked at Naruto over his book with a frown. "Yeah. No thanks to you."

Naruto chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "Ahahaha...anyway, I was wondering if you could train me for the Third Exam."

Kakashi sighed. "I'm sorry Naruto. But I've already been recruited to help Sasuke train."

Naruto sighed. "Oh...So Sasuke already asked you?"

Kakashi chuckled. "Uuuh...not quite."

Naruto blinked. "What do you mean?"

"The Hokage asked me to help train Sasuke." Kakashi explained.

Naruto blinked at his sensei. "Help train?" Is someone else training Sasuke?" 

Kakashi smiled. "Not bad Naruto. Yes. Sasuke's getting other help as well."

Naruto frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "Who else is training Sasuke?"

.

.

"Good Sasuke. Your Sharingan is more developed than Kakashi let on." Itachi smirked.

Sasuke was kneeling on the ground panting, drenched in sweat. His Sharingan was activated and now had two tomoe, instead of one. Sasuke stood up and bowed to his brother. "Thank you, Aniki."

Itachi stepped forward and smirked towards his brother. "Now...let's see how well your fire jutsus have come along."

.

.

"Wow...so Itachi's back..." Naruto said in disbelief.

Kakashi nodded. "Yes. Itachi will be able to teach Sasuke more about the Sharingan than I ever could."

"But...why are you helping Sasuke train? I mean...if Itachi's back, then he should be fine." Naruto frowned.

Kakashi chuckled. "Ah...yes and no. There are somethings that Itachi won't be able to teach Sasuke...and that's where I come in."

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. "So who's gunna train me?"

Kakashi chuckled. "Don't worry Naruto. I've actually arranged for someone to train you."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the cyclops. "Really? Who is it?"

"That would be me." Came a chuckle.

Naruto turned around and saw a tall man with long, spiky, silver hair. "This is the guy that's going to be training me?"

"You're lucky too, brat. You're pulling me away from my work." He smirked perversely.

Naruto groaned. "Great...I've got a pervert for a teacher."

"Hey! I'm not a pervert!" The man frowned.

Naruto blinked. "Really?"

"Really kid. In fact...I'm a SUPER PERVERT!" He said vigorously.

Naruto facepalmed. "That's not any better!" He yelled. "Who is this guy?" He asked Kakashi.

"You don't know who I am?!" The man yelled in shock. "I am the Toad Sage, Jiraiya!" He said giving Naruto the "victory" sign and grinned.

Naruto looked at Jiraiya with wide eyes. "Woah woah wait...Jiraiya...as in Jiraiya of the Sannin?!"

"The one in the same, kid." The Toad Sage smirked. "So...you're Uzumaki Naruto. I've heard a lot about you kid."

"Really? What'd you hear?" He asked curiously.

"I've heard all about your life as a Genin. I must say...I'm pretty impressed." Jiraiya nodded. "Kakashi's already given me a list of the jutsus you know, your strengths, and weaknesses." He said pulling out a piece of paper. "Just saying kid...you're in for a hell of a month."

Naruto looked up at the Legendary Sannin and smirked. "I'm always up for a challenge."

"Good. We'll start after lunch. Right now...I need to talk to the Old Man." Jiraiya sighed and made his way towards the Hokage Tower.

Naruto watched the man leave and looked up at Kakashi. "You sure he's a Legendary Sannin?"

Kakashi chuckled and nodded. "I am Naruto. In fact...I'm more than positive you'll want to train with him."

"Why?" He asked questioningly.

"He trained your father."

Naruto's eyes widened and turned back towards where Jiraiya was. Naruto stared at the fading Toad Sage. "Sweet." He said with a confident smirk. He turned back to Kakashi and smiled. "Thanks Kakashi-Sensei. Have fun training Sasuke."

Kakashi chuckled. "I'll try Naruto."

Naruto and Kakashi said their goodbyes and parted. Still in a good mood, Naruto decided to see Hinata. _'Now is a good a time as any...'_

"_**Don't panic, Kit. I'm pretty sure she'll say yes."**_

Naruto sighed. _"How can you be so sure? I'm not trying to be down on myself or anything..."_

Kyuubi sighed. _**"You're just asking her on a date, brat. It's not like you're asking her to lay down her life for you."**_

Naruto snorted. _"Well when you put it that way..."_ He jumped up onto the roof tops and leapt atop of the roofs towards the Hyuuga Compound. The entire way there, he had a face-splitting smile.

After about ten minutes of moving, Naruto finally reached the Hyuuga Compound. He walked up to the large gates and took a deep breath. After slowly letting it out, he walked up to the guards in front of the gates. "Is Hinata-Chan in?"

The two guards eyed Naruto before, nodded and opened the gates.

Naruto nodded his head in thanks and walked in. He walked towards the center of the compound and saw Neji and Hiashi sparring.

Hiashi saw Naruto out of the corner of his eye and stopped the match. "You may take a break, Neji."

Neji bowed and thanked his uncle. He looked to his right and saw Naruto. "Good morning Naruto."

"Hey Neji. Training hard, I see." Naruto chuckled.

"Always." He smirked and sat down.

Hiashi walked over towards Naruto, a frown on his face. "What can I do for you, 0Uzumaki-San."

Naruto took a deep breath. "I wanted to ask Hinata something, but...can I talk to you first? Privately?"

Hiashi raised an eyebrow. "If you wish. Follow me." He said leading Naruto into the Main house.

Neji watched his uncle and Naruto leave, blinking in confusion.

"What do you think Naruto wants?"

Neji jumped up in surprise. He turned and saw his younger cousin, Hanabi, sitting next to him. "Hanabi...it's not nice to sneak up on people."

"Sorry Neji-Niisan. But seriously...what do you think Naruto wants?" She asked looking up at her cousin.

"I don't know." He said seriously.

"Let's go find out." She said with a naughty grin.

"No Hanabi. It's improper to eavesdrop. Naruto wished to speak to Hiashi privately, and that's how it's going to be." Neji said, his eyebrow twitching slightly.

Hanabi frowned. "You're no fun, Neji-Niisan."

.

.

Hiashi led Naruto into his personal office, where he sat down behind his desk. He looked at Naruto, who looked rather nervous. "What is it you wished to talk to me about?"

Naruto swallowed hard, trying to keep his cool. He took a deep breath and spoke. "I was wondering if I could ask Hinata-Chan to dinner."

Hiashi raised an eyebrow at the blond. "You two go out to dinner quite often. Why is this time different?" Hiashi knew the reason, but he wanted to see the boy sweat.

Naruto's face went slightly red. "Well uh...it'd be a uh...y-you know..."

"Do I?" Hiashi smirked.

Naruto swallowed again. "A date." His face was beat red by this point.

Hiashi stared at the blond for a long, hard minute and sighed. "Listen Uzumaki, I won't lie to you. I don't like you." He saw Naruto's shoulders sag. "However...you've played a big part in Hinata's change, and I have to thank you for that." Hiashi stood up and looked down at Naruto. "You better take care of my daughter. If you don't...I will kill you in your sleep."

Naruto looked into Hiashi's menacing eyes. He chuckled nervously and nodded. "I promise I'll take care of her."

Naruto bowed to the Hyuuga and left his office. Once outside, Naruto let out his breath. _'That was more stressful than the Forest of Death...'_

Naruto regained his composure and went to find Hinata. He rounded a corner and bumped right into the Hyuuga heiress. "Ah! Hinata-Chan! I'm so sorry! I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Hinata shook her head. "I'm okay Naruto-kun. But...what are you doing here?" She smiled

"Uuuh...I wanted to ask you something." He blushed.

Hinata blinked at the blond. "What is it, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto looked down at his feet. "Uh...would you...like to...I don't know..." Naruto took a deep breath and looked into Hinata's eyes. "Would you like to go to dinner with me?"

Hinata's face went bright red. "D-Dinner?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah...like a dinner...date."

Hinata nearly fainted...nearly. She stared at her crush for a few moments as a smile spread across her face. "Yes."

Naruto smiled. "O-Okay. Uhm...uh...is tomorrow night good?"

Hinata nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow night, Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled. "Okay...cool. Yeah...tomorrow night...okay...bye Hinata-Chan!" Naruto waved and ran out of the compound.

Hinata stood there for a moment in a daze. After a few moments, she threw her hands in the air. "FINALLY!"

.

.

Naruto was beyond ecstatic. _'Kyuubi! She said yes!'_

"**_I told you, brat."_** Kyuubi chuckled.

_'You know...I've been thinking about something.'_ Naruto started. _'I've been think about what you said a while back about learning to use your chakra.'_

Kyuubi nodded. _**"I see. Any concerns?"**_

_'Well...I figured that I should probably start learning to use your chakra during this month of training. I have a feeling I might need to use it to face Gaara.'_ Naruto sighed. He was worried about the fight. Despite his stoic exterior, he had a feeling Gaara was a raving psychopath.

"_**That sounds logical."**_ Kyuubi smirked.

"_How am I going to learn how to use your chakra, though? If that...Ero-Sennin is going to be training me, when will I have time to train with your chakra?" _

"_**It seems you've thought this through. I'm surprised."**_ Kyuubi snickered. **_"As for when you'll train...we'll incorporate the chakra training while you train with that pervert."_** He explained.

"_Really? How?"_ Naruto was really interested in using the Kyuubi's chakra.

"_**Why don't you ask the pervert. He's well versed in fuinjutsu. He'll know what to do."**_ Kyuubi stated boredly. **_"I'm going to take a nap. So...go away."_**

Naruto rolled his eyes. _'I think I'll go grab some ramen.'_

Naruto walked to his favorite hole-in-the-wall. When he got there he saw Sasuke and someone else sitting next to him. "Hey Sasuke!" Naruto smiled. "Who's your friend?"

Sasuke swallowed his food and smirked. "I think you know."

Naruto looked at the stranger and smiled. "It's good to have you back in the village, Itachi."

Itachi was under a henge so no one would recognize him. "Thank you Naruto. It's good to see you again." When Naruto blinked, Itachi chuckled. "Never mind. But while out in public, please call me Isao." He nodded.

Naruto nodded. "Okay." Naruto took a seat next to his teammate and ordered himself some ramen. "So how's training going, Sasuke?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Well...Aniki drove me into the ground this morning. So...not bad." He took another bite of his food. "I guess Kakashi-Sensei will be helping me as well."

"Yeah, lucky you." Naruto said with a pout. "While you train with Konoha's greatest ninja, I'm training with it's greatest pervert." He grumbled.

Itachi stopped mid-bite and turned to Naruto. He swallowed his food and spoke. "What's his name?"

Naruto blinked. "The pervert? Jiraiya."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "You're bitching about training with a legendary Sannin?! Seriously?! I'd trade Aniki and Kakashi-Sensei for one hour to train with him!" He turned to Itachi and gave him a small shrug. "No offense, Aniki."

Itachi shrugged back. "It's okay, Otouto. I'd do the same."

When Naruto's ramen arrived, he dug in. "I just don't know what to expect out of this guy."

"Expect to get the training session of your life." Itachi said seriously.

The trio turned around and saw Jiraiya behind them. "I see that your brother is back Sasuke. Congratulations."

Sasuke nodded. "Thank you Jiraiya-Sama."

Jiraiya smirked. "It's good to see you again." He said looking at Itachi.

Itachi nodded at the Toad Sage and returned to his meal.

Jiraiya turned nad smiled at Naruto. "Alright brat. Let's go."

Naruto blinked. "We're starting now?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Correct. Let's go towards the river and see how far you are in your training, and then we'll go from there."

Naruto smiled. "Alright then. Training grounds 17 is near the river...so I'll meet you there once I'm done eating." He said turning back to his bowl of ramen...which was no longer in front of him. "What the-" He turned around and saw the Toad Sage slurping down the rest of his meal.

Jiraya gulped down the food and smirked at Naruto. "How about you head there now." He smirked and shushined away.

Naruto sat there, gaping at the spot Jiraiya was staning. He could hear Sasuke laughing next to him. "He took my ramen!" Naruto yelled. He turned and glared at Sasuke. "It's not funny!"

"Oh yes it is!" Sasuke continued to laugh. "God! The look on your face is priceless!"

Itachi chuckled. "It's not polite to laugh at others misery, Otouto."

Sasuke turned to his brother with a raised eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Look who's talking."

Naruto pouted. "Well...then...time to go train with Ero-Sennin." He sighed.

Itachi bit his lip, holding back a laugh. "Naruto...Jiraiya-Sama deserves some respect."

Naruto frowned. "I'm not so sure about that yet." Naruto bid farewell to the Uchiha brothers and grumbled all the way to Training Ground 17.

When Naruto got there, Jiraiya was no where to be seen. He looked around for a couple a few moments when he heard some...giggling behind a bush.

Naruto walked towards the bush and saw Jiraiya hiding behind some bushes, staring at several young women playing in the creek. He giggled perversely as they splashed around in their bikinis.

Naruto frowned. "PERVERT!" he yelled.

"SHHH!" Jiraiya tried to shush the blond, but it was too late. The girls gasped and ran away, leaving Jiraiya to his imagination. Jiraiya pouted and turned to Naruto. "Why did you do that?! They were perfect for my research!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Are you gunna train me or not?"

Jiraiya stood up, still pouting. "Alright alright...you brat." Jiraiya reached into his pouch and pulled out a small scroll. After unsealing it, the seal grew. "Do you know what this is?"

"A scroll." Naruto stated boredly.

Jiraiya's eyebrow twitched. "No shit, brat! I know it's a scroll! But it's not just any scroll, it's a summoning contract." He smirked.

Naruto's eyes widened as he stared at the large scroll. "Seriously?! Are you going to let me sign it?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Indeed I am. I was informed by the Old Man that you found out who your father was, so what better contract to sign than the one your father did."

The blond's eyes widened further. "No way! My dad signed this contract?! What does it summon?"

"Toads." Jiraiya smirked.

Naruto stared at Jiraiya a few moments. "...Toads?"

The Sannin frowned at the younger shinobi. "Don't thumb your nose at them! Their leader even played a big role against the Kyuubi."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Seriously?!"

"_**It's true, Kit. Your father rode on Gamabunta's head, like some valiant knight in shining armor."**_ Kyuubi scoffed.

Naruto frowned. "Shut up, Furball!" The blond yelled. "Don't talk about my dad like that. You should be bowing to him for being grateful he didn't kill you!"

Jiraiya blinked. Watching this kid chitchatting and arguing with the beast inside him was both, amusing and frightening. "You know...that is kinda freaky."

Naruto stopped his bickering with the Kyuubi and chuckled. "Yeah, I know it is." He said rubbing the back of his head. "So...summoning. What do I have to do?"

Jiraiya chuckled and unraveled the summoning scroll. "First, you have to do it put blood on your fingers and press them into the scroll. Then, you sign your name and you can summon toads."

Naruto bit his thumb and coated his fingers with his blood, then placed his fingers on the next free space. "No one else has signed it since Otou-San?" Naruto asked quietly and signed his name above his fingerprints.

Jiraiya nodded. "Yeah. No one else was worthy of it."

Naruto took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright. So how do I do this?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "The next step would be to actually do the summoning." The Sannin but his thumb and preformed 5 quick hand signs, slamming his palm on the ground. A black seal spread from Jiraiya's palm to the ground and a plume of smoke erupted from the seal. Once the smoke cleared a large orange toad with blue markings appeared.

Naruto stared at the large toad with shock. "Woah!"

Jiraiya chuckled. "See? I told you not to thumb your nose at them."

The toad looked in between the two shinobi and blinked. "Jiraiya, what is the meaning of this? Why did you summon me when there isn't any danger?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Sorry Gama. I summoned you as an example for Naruto." He said motioning towards the blond

Gama's eyes widened and turned towards Naruto. "Naruto? As in Minato's son, Naruto?"

Naruto smiled. "The one and only!" The blond chuckled and gave Gama a victory sign. "How's it goin'?"

Gama chuckled. "Such personality! Much like Kushina-Chan. It would be an honor Naruto-San for you to summon me." the toad smiled nad bowed his head towards Naruto.

Naruto smiled brightly and bowed to the toad. "Thank you Gama! Maybe I can summon you and we can train together some time!"

Gama chuckled again. "Such dedication! Just like your father." He turned to Jiraiya and bowed his head. "I'll be heading back to Mount Myoboku." Gama smiled at Naruto before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Naruto grinned. "Gama was so cool! Are all the toads like that?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Most of the toads are pretty cool. Gama's just really polite and loyal to his friends. Then you have some toads that are just complete assholes...like Gamabunta." The Sannin shuddered. "Alright Naruto. Your turn."

Naruto blinked. "Okay...how much chakra do I put into the summoning?"

Jiraiya smiled. "Not bad kid. Well...depending on what toad you wish to summon. The stronger the toad, the more chakra you put into the summon."

Naruto nodded. He took a deep breath and bit his finger, drawing blood. He preformed the handsigns and slammed his palm on the ground. Black seals spread from Naruto's palm and smoke erupted from the seal. Once the smoke cleared, a small orange toad with purple markings and a blue vest sat there smiling.

"Yo!"

Naruto blinked. "Woah...he's so small."

"Hey! Who ya calling small?!" The young toad yelled.

Naruto chuckled nervously. "I'm sorry. This was my first time summoning and, well...I was trying for a bigger toad."

The young toad looked up at the blond and blinked. "Seriously? In that case...I'm Gamakichi! Nice to meetcha."

Naruto nodded. "Nice to meet you too."

Gamakichi smiled. "I'm sure I'll see you again, Naruto. You're still a beginner." The young toad snickered and vanished in a puff of smoke.

Naruto puffed out his cheeks. "Well sorry for being a beginner." He grumbled under his breath.

Jiraiya chuckled. "Alright Naruto, I want you to keep working on it for the rest of the day."

Naruto nodded and returned to summoning.

Naruto spent another five hours summoning toads. He summoned Gamakichi at least 5 dozen times, and his younger brother, Gamatatsu, a dozen times or so. Naruto even summoned Gama once. The blond lay on the ground, panting in exhaustion.

"I can't...summon...anymore...toads." He groaned.

Jiraiya chuckled. "You did pretty good kid. I was surprised you summoned Gama. I wasn't expecting you to summon any large toad for a while." The Sannin helped Naruto up and smirked. "I want you to summon one more toad for me."

Naruto huffed. "I can't. I'm too tired..."

Jiraiya shrugged. "You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm way to tired to summon another toad." Naruto frowned.

Jiraiya smirked. "Okay then..." Jiraiay picked Naruto up by the collar of his trench-vest and began carrying him towards a large crevice in the ground. Down the crevice were sharp, spiky rocks, covered in water and slime.

"Hey! What are you doing?! You senile pervert!"

Jiraiya chuckled. "You know it!" Jiraiya smirked as he threw Naruto into the crevice.

"AAAAAAAAAH!" Naruto screamed as he fell down the crevice. Naruto summoned chakra to his hands and feet, trying to grab a hold of one of the wet rocks. As he grabbed hold, his hand slipped and he continued to plummet. _'Oh man...I'm gunna die!'_

Thinking fast, Naruto preformed a few hand seals, bit his thumb, and preformed the summoning technique. A puff of smoke erupted from Naruto's hand, and the blond fell into a lumpy and slimy back. When he sat up, he saw that he was sitting on the back of a very, very large toad. "Woah...no way! It worked! Oh thank God!"

Naruto was quickly brought out of his happy demeanor when the toad lept in the air. Naruto held on as best he could, but slipped off the toad's slimy back. Naruto screamed as he fell again.

The toad snatched Naruto as he fell, and stared hard at the blond. "Who are you?"

Jiraiya, who saw Naruto summon the very large toad, quickly made himself scarce. _'Oh man...I didn't think he'd summon Gamabunta! If that old toad finds me, I'm in trouble.'_

Naruto stared at Gamabunta, swallowing hard. "Uuuh...I-I'm Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto." He said nervously.

"Uzumaki?" The head toad grumbled out. "How interesting..." Gamabunta gently placed Naruto down and stared at the blond. "So it seems you signed the contract. Like father like son." The giant toad smirked.

Naruto smiled at the big toad. "Really? Cool! So...you know my name. What's yours?"

Gamabunta chuckled. "I am Gamabunta, Chief Toad of Mount Myoboku."

Naruto smiled and bowed his head slightly. "Nice to meet you."

Gamabunta nodded. "Indeed. Now...where is that good-for-nothing Jiraiya? I have a bone to pick with him."

Naruto looked around. "I...don't know. He was here a minute ago."

Gamabunta grumbled under his breath and sighed. "Well then Uzumaki Naruto. I must take my leave. I'm expecting big things from you." With that, Gamabunta vanished in a puff of smoke.

Naruto smiled. "Okay...hands down. Best. Day. Ever!" The blond jumped up and down and cheered. Once he was done, he took a deep breath and went back towards the village.

As he walked back into the village, he saw Sarutobi and Iruka walking towards him. "Hey Old Man! Iruka-Sensei! Guess what!"

Sarutobi chuckled. "I'm guessing you learned how to summon the toads?"

Naruto blinked. "How'd you know?"

"Jiraiya came running into my office, trying to hide from Gamabunta." The old Hokage chuckled.

Naruto snickered. "What a loser."

"Now now Naruto. Be nice. Jiraiya-Sama promised to train you during the break. The least you can do is be appreciative." Iruka scolded.

Naruto pouted. "Fiiiiiiine."

The old Hokage chuckled. "Alright Naruto. Why don't we all go grab some dinner and you can tell us all about your first day of training."

Naruto smiled brightly and walked with the older men back into the village.

**End Chapter**

**So? What did you think? Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Don't forget to review!**

**~Lu Lu-Chan25**


	20. How about a little wager?

**Chapter 19**

**Hey everyone! I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays! I know it's a little late to say this, but I'm so happy that NaruHina is canon! HURRAY! **

**I would like to thank my beta Chibiusa for editing this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!**

**Here is chapter 19! **

Today was finally the day. The day...he was taking Hyuuga Hinata on a date! He couldn't believe it! He had asked Jiraiya if he could have to day off to take Hinata out for dinner, and of course the Toad-Bastard said no!

Naruto sat in his apartment eating his breakfast, recalling his conversation with Jiraiya.

_~Flashback~_

"_I'm pleasantly surprised Naruto. You actually summoned Gamabunta on your first day." Jiraiya smirked as he sat across from Naruto in the boy's apartment. _

_Naruto glared at the Sannin as he ate a sweet bun that Jiraiya brought him. "Yeah...no thanks to you. You ran for cover the second you saw him!"_

_Jiraiya chuckled nervously. "Well...you'd understand why if you knew how mad he was at me."_

"_Why's he mad at you?"_

"_Well you see...The last time I talked to him—Oh never mind that!" Jiraiya hollered. "Anyways, get your rest tonight. Tomorrow we're going to get an early start." _

_Naruto swallowed the food in his mouth and pouted. "Wait! Can I have tomorrow off?"_

"_What? Already asking for a day off? Can't handle training from a legend?" Jiraiya smirked._

"_Pfft! As if! I'm taking Hinata-Chan on a date tomorrow...and I was wondering if I could have tomorrow off so I could take her out to dinner." Naruto smiled softly, blushing at the thought of the date. _

_Jiraiya looked at the boy and chuckled. "You're just like your father, boy. He was blushing like mad when he told me he had a date with your mother. Though your girlfriend is far more timid than Kushina was." he chuckled again._

_Naruto smiled. "So I get the day off, then?"_

"_Nope!" Jiraiya laughed. The Sannin saw anger and disappointment flash across Naruto's face, and couldn't help but smiled. "But...I will let you get out early." _

_Naruto's anger faded and looked hopeful. "Really?"_

_Jiraiya chuckled. "Yes really. Now, finish up and get to bed. You're in for some rigorous training, kid."_

_~End Flashback~_

Naruto finished up his breakfast and got dressed. He locked up his apartment and made his way to Training Ground 3. Once there, he saw Jiraiya waiting for him. "Hey Ero-Sennin!"

Jiraiya frowned. "Don't call me that, brat!"

Naruto waved him off. "What are we doing today?"

"Well...I want to see how your chakra control is. Walk on water." He said pointing towards the river.

Naruto blinked. "Walk on water? Is it like walking up a tree?"

"Same concept, but instead of channeling the chakra just to your feet, you have to extend your chakra to the river floor." Jiraiya explained.

"So...kind of like making chakra stilts." Naruto said trying to picture what he had to do.

"That's one way to look at it. As you walk on water, you have to continuously push the chakra through your feet. Too little and you'll sink. Too much and you'll rocket yourself into the air."

Naruto nodded. "Just like the tree walking exercise." He mused. "Alright...lemme try this." He took a deep breath and approached the river bed. He took one more breath and stepped on the water.

There wasn't much distance between the water surface and the bottom, so Naruto was able to keep himself standing on top of the water. Naruto took a hesitant step out in slightly deeper water, pouring a little more chakra into his feet. Once he was sure he wasn't going to sink, he started to venture further out into the river. As he continued, Naruto noticed that he was sinking.

"What?" The blond asked panicked. Naruto was knee deep in the river, though he was still above the river's bottom.

"You gotta put more chakra into your feet, brat!" Jiraiya yelled out.

Naruto nodded and took a deep breath. He poured more chakra into his feet, but instead of slowly rising to the surface, Naruto rocketed out of the water.

Jiraiya watched as Naruto flew out of the water, screaming all the way up. The Sannin laughed as he screamed all the way back down into the water.

Naruto swam up to the surface, shaking out the water from his hair. "The hell?!"

Jiraiya laughed again. "I told you to watch how much chakra you put into your feet. Keep going."

Naruto frowned at Jiraiya. "Am I going to be trained at all this month?" Naruto frowned.

The Sannin raised an eyebrow at the blond. "You don't think this is training?"

"I do. It's just boring. I want to train in something awesome!" Naruto smiled.

Jiraiya rubbed his chin in thought, then smirked at Naruto. "Alright brat...how about a little bet?"

Naruto's ears twitched at the word 'bet.' It was as if little devil horns appeared on his head. "A bet? You're so on, Ero-Sennin! What are we betting on?"

"If you can get this water walking technique down before noon, I'll teach you a ninjutsu your father knew." he could see the sparkle in Naruto's eyes. "But, if you can't do it before noon, you have to stop calling me Ero-Sennin _**and**_ miss your date with your little Hyuuga to continue training." Jiraiya smirked.

Naruto's eyes widened. _'There's no way I'm missing my date with Hinata-Chan!'_ Naruto contemplated Jiraiya's bet, a grin that could put the Cheshire Cat to shame appeared on his face. "Okay...How about I make our bet a little more interesting."

Jiraiya's little devil horns appeared. "Oh? How much more interesting?"

Naruto chuckled. "Well...if I can master the water walking technique in one hour, not only do I get to keep calling you Ero-Sennin and you teach me an awesome new jutsu...but you also have to stop peeping at women for the rest of my training _**and**_ you have to help me train in the Kyuubi's chakra."

"_**Not bad brat. Sly like a true fox."**_ Kyuubi said proudly

Jiraiya's eyes widened. "Are you serious Naruto?! That could be seriously dangerous."

Naruto shrugged. "Well...I have two reasons behind this suggestion. One...learning how to use the Kyuubi's chakra could not only help me against Gaara and future fights. It's not like I'd use it every fight."

"Yeah, and?" Jiraiya frowned.

"Well...I knew you'd be too chicken to accept this request any other way." Naruto smirked.

"_**Sly like a fox indeed."**_ Kyuubi laughed. Kyuubi didn't expect Naruto to bring up their training like this, but it was definitely effective.

Jiraiya guffawed. "Wha – you — too chick – I'll show you who's too chicken! You're on brat!" Jiraiya hollered.

Naruto smirked and summoned five shadow clones. All five clones then began to walk on the water. As Naruto and his clones got further out, They began to sink. Well four sunk. Naruto and three of his clones started to sink for not exerting enough chakra. Two clones exerted too much and rocketed into the air.

Naruto dispelled the clones, their memories and encounters with the new technique etched into his memory. Naruto returned to the shore, and tried again, summoning five more clones. Naruto began to repeat the process, learning on his own and from his clones what he was doing wrong.

Jiraiya could only stare in shock. He was beyond positive that Naruto wasn't going to be able to learn the technique within the hour. Hell, he didn't even think he was going to make it by noon! But here was this blond, outshining and outsmarting him in one simple move. _'Unbelievable. Un-FUCKING-believable!'_

It barely took Naruto any time at all before he was standing on the surface of the water in the middle of the river. Naruto stood on the water, his arms crossed over his chest and with a shit-eating grin on his face. "Look who lost Ero-Sennin."

Jiraiya frowned. "No way brat! You practically hustled me! There is no way this counts!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, his smirk never leaving his face. "Oh it counts. Not once, at any point in our conditions, did you say I couldn't use my shadow clones."

Jiraiya lifted a finger to make a retort, but he couldn't argue that. _'Fuuuuuuuck...'_

Naruto practically skipped across the river to stand in front of the Sannin. "So...as our terms and conditions state...I get to learn an awesome new jutsu, I get to continue to call you Ero-Sennin, you have to teach me how to use the Kyuubi's chakra, _**AND**_ you have to stop peeping for the rest of my training." Naruto said with a bright smile.

Jiraiya could only gawk at the blond. He had just been completely outsmarted by this insufferable brat! Jiraiya growled at Naruto and at himself. He lost this stupid bet because of a stupid technicality!

"Soooo? Which jutsu you gunna teach me? Huuuuuuh?" Naruto asked, rocking back and forth on his heels and toes.

Jiraiya pouted and crossed his arms. "I don't wanna teach you anything." He grumbled.

Naruto snickered. "Oh don't be a sore loser Ero-Sennin! I won fair and square. Besides...if you don't start teaching me, I'm gunna summon Gamabunta." Naruto smirked deviously.

Jiraiya growled at Naruto again. "You're a demon, you know that?"

Naruto chuckled. "No...I just host one." He said, sticking his tongue out.

Jiraiya sighed and couldn't help but chuckle. "Alright Naruto...you win. Let me go get some supplies and we'll start your training."

Naruto smiled and went to train on the water.

.

.

Thirty minutes passed when Jiraiya returned holding a box filled with water balloons. He saw Naruto was practicing his Dragon Style taijutsu form while on the water. Jiraiya had to admit, he was impressed to see Naruto traiing so well on the water. _'This kid is pretty dedicated. I guess I shouldn't be too hard on the little snot for tricking me.'_

"Hey Naruto! Get over here!" Jiraiya called.

Naruto looked over at Jiraiya and smiled, running over to the older man. "Hey Ero-Sennin. About time you came back."

"Yeah yeah yeah. Here, catch." He mumbled, tossing Naruto a water balloon.

Naruto blinked as he stared at the balloon. "What's this for?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jiraiya smirked. "This is your training." He chuckled. He held his palm out, and within seconds a rotating ball of chakra appeared in his hand. "This is the Rasengan, the jutsu I will be teaching you."

Naruto stared at the Rasengan, completely captivated with it. "Wow...that's so cool!"

Jiraiya chuckled and canceled the jutsu. He picked up a water balloon, Naruto watching with captivated interest. "Alright Naruto. Watch closely." The balloon in Jiraiya's hand started to get lumpy, expanded, and exploded.

"Woah!" Naruto gasped. "So...how do I do that?"

"Well...you saw the Rasengan rotate, correct?"

Naruto nodded.

"Well, same concept. You need to spin the water inside the balloon with your chakra until it pops. And no using shadow clones! I want you to learn this jutsu on your own." He said firmly.

Naruto pouted, but agreed. He grabbed a water balloon and poured chakra into the balloon. He tried to spin the chakra, but he was having a hard time getting his chakra to spin.

Jiraiya chuckled. "Keep at it brat. I'll be back in a couple of hours to check your progress."

Naruto frowned. "What time is it, Ero-Sennin?"

"Don't worry brat. You can leave when I come back." Jiraiya waved Naruto off and left the blond to his work.

Naruto pouted and turned his attention back towards the water balloon.

.

.

A little over three hours passed and Jiraiya returned to find Naruto still working on his balloon. "Yo!" the Sannin called.

Naruto growled and threw his balloon on the ground, causing it to explode. "I can't get this!" Naruto yelled as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Jiraiya chuckled. "This is a very advanced jutsu Naruto. I'd be surprised if you had it down already. Lemme see what you have so far."

Naruto sighed and grabbed another water balloon. He poured his chakra into the balloon, causing the water inside the balloon to spin. The water was spinning to the right, flattening the balloon. "See?! It's only going flat! It's not exploding!"

Jiraiya nodded. "I see that Naruto. Do you know why it's not exploding?"

"No! I don't! Why isn't it exploding?!" He yelled.

"I dunno. Figure it out." Jiraiya chuckled. "By the way, it's time for you to get ready for your date."

Naruto seemed to perk up a little when he heard that. "Yeah, you're right. What time are we training tomorrow?"

"Be here at 8 am. We're continuing with your Rasengan training."

Naruto nodded. "Okay. See ya Ero-Sennin." Naruto took off towards his apartment, excited for his date.

Once at his apartment, Naruto jumped into the shower to wash away all the sweat and grime from his training. Once he was clean, he went to his closet to look for something to wear. He didn't really want to wear his mission clothes, but it looked like he might not have a choice.

Naruto sighed as he settled on wearing his mission clothes, though he decided to change up the color scheme a little bit. Wearing almost all black would be a little too depressing, so he was going to wear his favorite color tonight. He grabbed a pair of his black capri pants, an orange long-sleeve shirt, and his trench-vest. He ran a hand through his spiky hair, getting the last drops of water out. He took a deep breath, patted his cheeks a couple of times and nodded.

"Alright...I'm ready. Time go go on a date with Hinata-Chan!" He whooped excitedly.

He put on his shoes and left his house, walking towards the Hyuuga complex with gusto. When he got to the compound, he was a bundle of nerves. He was really excited for his date, but how was he supposed to act on a date? He had no idea!

_'Ooooh...I never really thought this through. Should I have brought flowers? Chocolates? I have no idea! UGH! This is already going horribly!'_ Naruto yelled in his mind as he pulled at his hair.

"_**Calm down kit. It's a first date. Not a proposal."**_ Kyuubi sighed.

"I just want to make a good first impression." He sighed. It was a little too late to run back into the village to grab flowers. _'Next time.'_

"_**You say that as if there will be a second date."**_ Kyuubi smirked.

"There will be a second date! It...might not be until after the Chuunin exams...But there will be a second date!" Naruto said confidently. He took a few deep breaths and approached the gates, only to be stopped by two guards.

"State your business here." One of the Hyuuga guards frowned.

Naruto looked up at the tall Hyuuga and shuffled nervously. "Uhm...I'm here to pick up Hinata-Chan."

The guards looked at each other before allowing the boy inside the compound. He spotted Neji and ran up to the boy.

"Hey Neji! What's up?" Naruto smiled.

Neji looked up at the boy and blinked. "Naruto? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to pick up Hinata-Chan." He nodded. "Do you know where she is?"

"I believe she is speaking with her father in his study. I can escort you there, if you would like." Neji offered.

Naruto nodded and the duo set off to Hiashi's study. "So Neji, how's your training going?" The blond asked curiously.

Neji shrugged. "I believe it is coming along well. Hiashi-Sama and Gai-Sensei has been training me nonstop."

Naruto blinked. "How's training with Gai-Sensei?"

"It's...interesting. He's been building up my stamina more than anything." Neji shivered, recalling yesterdays training.

Naruto nodded. "That's cool. I've got a pervert for a sensei right now." He grumbled.

Neji blinked. "Kakashi-Sensei? Well...I understand that he reads _Icha Icha_, but it cannot be that bad."

"I'm not training with Kakashi-Sensei. Sasuke is." He pouted. "Jiraiya, the Legendary Sannin, is training me."

Neji stopped dead in his tracks. Naruto turned around and saw Neji staring at him with the most astonished look. "You're training with a Sannin?" Neji asked in almost a whisper.

Naruto blinked and nodded.

"How dare you call a Sannin a pervert! He is a great and honorable man!" Neji boasted.

Naruto snickered. "Yeah...sure he is. You know Neji, I made a bet with him and won. Wanna know what he had to stop doing?"

Neji nodded slowly.

"He had to stop peeping at women." Naruto could see Neji's eyes widen. "He calls himself a Super Pervert."

Neji's eyes widened. "Surely you're lying. A Sannin would not admit to something so vile."

Naruto shook his head. "I'm not lying, Neji. He told me that within five minutes of meeting him." Naruto noticed the horrified look on Neji's face and laughed. "It's okay Neji. Even though he's a pervert, he is still pretty strong. He's even teaching me one of my dad's jutsus." He said proudly.

Neji's stoic look returned to his face. "I see. I hope to see it during the exams."

Naruto nodded, giving Neji a thumbs up. The two walked to Hiashi's office, where Neji said his goodbye. Naruto took a deep breath and knocked on the office door.

Hiashi opened his office door and saw Naruto. "Uzumaki...come in."

Naruto nodded and walked into Hiashi's office where he saw Hinata standing by Hiashi's desk. Naruto's eyes widened as he stared at the heiress. Hinata was wearing a white Chinese Quipoa dress that landed just above the knee. It was different from Sakura's pink dress. Hinata's dress had a pink trim with an intricate silver design throughout the dress, complimented by beautiful pink sakura blossoms across her chest and bottom of the dress. She wore simple white flats to finish the look.

Hinata blushed at Naruto's staring, shrinking into herself.

Hiashi saw Naruto's staring and frowned. "Uzumaki, I'd appreciate it if you would stop staring."

"U-Uh...f-forgive me Hiashi-Sama." Naruto straightened himself and smiled at Hinata. "You look beautiful Hinata-chan."

Hinata blushed brighter and smiled. "Thank you Naruto-kun. You look very nice too."

Naruto smiled, rubbing the back of his neck.

Hiashi cleared his throat, getting the children's attention. "Yes, now." He said sitting behind his chest. "What is it you plan to do with my daughter, Uzumaki?"

Naruto swallowed hard, his feet shuffling nervously. "Well...I was going to take Hinata-chan out to dinner and maybe some cinnamon buns after wards."

Hiashi nodded. "I see. She is to be home no later than 9 pm." he said firmly.

Naruto nodded. "I understand."

Hiashi nodded again. "Good. Now...have fun." He more to Hinata than Naruto.'

Hinata smiled brightly. "We will. Goodnight Otou-Sama." With that, the duo left Hiashi's office.

Once out of the compound, Naruto's nervousness lessened. "So Hinata-chan, where do you want to go to eat? I figured Ichiraku's would be a little too casual for a first date." He chuckled.

Hinata nodded. "Well...there is a new curry restaurant in town. Why not go there."

Naruto nodded. "Sounds good to me." He smiled and walked with Hinata.

The dinner went on without a hitch. Naruto's food wasn't poisoned or spoiled, and the two enjoyed their meal. Once dinner was over, the couple enjoyed a leisurely stroll through the village.

"How's your training coming?" He asked with a smile.

"Quite well, Naruto-kun. Otou-Sama has been splitting his time between me and Neji-Niisan. Jiji-Sama has also been training me whenever Otou-Sama is training Neji." She smiled. Hinata had been ecstatic when Haru said he would train her.

Naruto smiled. "Awesome. Ero-Sennin has been teaching me an awesome jutsu called the Rasengan. But I can't even seem to get the first step down."

Hinata blinked. "Ero-Sennin?"

Naruto chuckled. "Legendary Sannin Jiraiya. Super pervert."

Hinata nodded in understanding. "I see...well, what's the first step?"

"I have to make a water balloon pop by spinning the water inside of it. But every time I spin the water, it just flattens itself." Naruto pouted. Naruto spotted a bakery and pointed it to Hinata. "Come on, lets get you a cinnamon bun."

Hinata blushed and nodded. She thought about Naruto's problem. "Well...what did the jutsu look like?"

"Well...its a rotating chakra ball." Naruto said before ordering two cinnamon buns from the baker.

"Was the Rasengan only spinning one way, or didn't it look like it was spinning in a bunch of different directions?" She asked thoughtfully.

"It looked like it was spinning in a bunch of different directions..." Naruto said slowly. Then it hit him. _'Of course! No wonder the balloon was flattening out! I need to get the water to spin in different directions, not just one!'_

"Thank you Hinata-chan! I've finally figured out the first step!" He boasted, hugging Hinata tightly.

Hinata blushed brightly, gently hugging Naruto back. "Y-You're welcome Naruto-kun."

Naruto pulled away and stared at Hinata. The two stared at each other for a few moments, their faces turning a bright pink. They were only brought out of the intense staring when the baker called to Naruto, giving him the cinnamon buns.

Naruto quickly pulled away and grabbed the cinnamon buns. He handed one to Hinata and awkwardly ate his bun.

Hinata quietly ate hers as well, thinking about the moment that just passed between them. _'Was...was Naruto-kun going to...k-k-kiss me? Was he really...going to kiss me?'_ Her face flushed darker as she thought about the almost, possible kiss.

After the couple ate their buns, Naruto grabbed Hianta's hand and continued on their walk through the village.

They walked through the village hand-in-hand, window shopping and enjoying each others company throughout the evening. At the end of their date, Naruto walked Hinata back to the compound, arriving 15 minutes ahead of Hinata's curfew.

"I had an awesome time tonight, Hinata-chan. Thanks for going out with me tonight." He smiled.

Hinata blushed and nodded. "I should be thanking you Naruto-kun. Tonight was wonderful."

Naruto blushed as well. "A-Also...thanks for helping me figure out my jutsu problem. I couldn't have done it without you." He smiled and kissed Hinata on the cheek. "Goodnight Hinata-chan."

Hinata's face went a crimson red and slowly nodded. "G-Goodnight Naruto-kun." Hinata watched Naruto head back into the village. She walked into the compound and straight into her room, where she fell onto her bed with a face-splitting smile.

Naruto walked into his apartment, smiling ear to ear. He just had an amazing date with Hinata Hyuuga and he couldn't wait for his next one.

**End Chapter!**

**Alright guys! Just letting you guys know, an old face (that was very briefly mentioned in an earlier chapter) will be appearing next chapter. So...get ready! Things are about to get crazy. **

**Also, there is a link in my profile of Hinata's date dress. So if you want a picture, check out my profile!**

**Alright guys please review and give me your opinion, constructive criticism, and what not! Have a happy new year! **

**~Lu Lu-Chan25 **


	21. The Escapee

**Chapter 20**

**Hey Every! How's it going? Hope you all had a great New Year and for those who are in school, hope you had a good winter break. Mine is officially over, which makes me incredibly sad. Back to reality I guess.**

**Anyways, here's the newest chapter. It's not super amazing, but it's a pretty important chapter, so make sure you read up!**

**I'd like to thank my editor Chibiusa!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

Naruto arrived at the training grounds just before eight, seeing Jiraiya standing with a new box of water balloons. He jogged up to the Sannin and smirked. "I figured it out, Ero-Sennin."

"Oh? What did you figure out, brat?" The Toad Sage smirked.

"I was spinning the water only one way, not in different ways." He smirked. "So...all I have to do is spin it in a bunch of different directions." He said grabbing a water balloon.

Jiraiya smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "Not bad kid. But I highly doubt you'll pop it on your-"

_POP!_

Jiraiya stared at Naruto in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me." The Sannin deadpanned.

Naruto chuckled. "Don't be too surprised, Ero-Sennin. After my date with Hinata-chan I filled up a couple of water balloons and practiced. It took me about a dozen balloons before I finally got it right." He smirked.

Jiraiya gaped at Naruto. "So...after a date...you decided to train?"

Naruto nodded.

"What kind of man are you?!" Jiraiya yelled. "You don't do that!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Then what am I supposed to do, Oh-Perverted-One?" He said mockingly.

Jiraiya puffed out his chest. "You're supposed to woo your girl so she'll let you stay over for the night."

Naruto face-palmed. "Okay...say I go with your advice. Do you really think _**Hyuuga Hiashi**_ will let me spend the night with Hinata-chan?"

Jiraiya looked at Naruto for a hard moment. "Good point..."

"Yeah...that's what I thought." Naruto shook his head.

"Alright alright. Back to the task at hand." Jiraiya said. "I want you to pop all of those balloons before we move on to Phase 2."

Naruto nodded and moved to the water balloons. Just as instructed, Naruto popped every balloon. Once finished, he smirked up at Jiraiya. "Now what?"

Jiraiya scoffed and tossed Naruto a small rubber ball. "Pop this."

Naruto blinked. "Sure. No problem." He smirked.

Naruto concentrated hard on the rubber ball and began to rotated the air inside the ball. The ball bubbled up a little bit, but quickly returned to it's original form. Naruto stared at the ball. "What the heck?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Not so easy now, is it brat?"

"How come the ball didn't pop?" Naruto asked.

"The first step to learning the Rasengan is technique; learning how to spin your chakra. Step two is about power. In order to pop the rubber ball, your chakra needs to have power behind it's rotations or it won't succeed." Jiraiya explained.

Naruto nodded. "Okay then, I'll just make my spinning more powerful."

"It's not as easy as it sounds, Naruto." Jiraiya sighed. "It's not like you can just wish it to be more powerful. It takes time and practice to bring power into this jutsu."

Naruto sighed, nodding in understanding. _ 'Should have known this wasn't going to be an easy jutsu.'_

"_**You seriously thought this was going to be easy?"**_ Kyuubi asked, dumbfounded at Naruto's thought.

_'Well...I didn't think it would be this hard. But I won't give up. I'm going to learn the Rasengan before the final exam starts!'_ Naruto thought confidently.

Kyuubi shrugged. _**"Don't forget about our training, Kit."**_

_'I won't. Trust me.'_

Naruto continued for the rest of the day to try and burst the ball, trying to add power to his chakra, but every result ended the same. Naruto sighed as he sat down, frustrated with his lack of progress. His hand was throbbing in pain. He massaged his hand, trying to rid the pain, but it didn't help much.

Naruto sighed. _'I guess I'll grab dinner and go home...try again tomorrow.'_

Naruto got up and walked back into the village, heading straight to Ichiraku's. Once there, he was greeted by Teuchi and Ayame.

"Well if it isn't Naruto." Teuchi smiled at the blond. "How's training going?"

Naruto smiled. "Not bad. Jiraiya's teaching me a new jutsu."

"The Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya?" Ayame asked, flabbergasted.

Naruto nodded. "The one and only. I'm on step two, and it's been pretty hard to get it down." He said with a frown. "My hand's been cramping up all day."

Teuchi smiled. "Well then, what can I whip up for you to make you feel better?"

"Miso Ramen!" Naruto cheered.

Once his ramen was ready, Naruto grabbed chopsticks, but dropped them when his hand cramped up.

"Ow..." Naruto hissed. "This jutsu is the worst! My hand hurts and now it's stopping me from eating ramen!" He said with a pout.

.

.

The next day Naruto's results were the same. The day after that, no progress. Five days of no progress and a throbbing hand was beginning to take it's toll on Naruto's confidence. The blond was laying on his back, staring up at the sky.

"Now I know why Shikamaru loves clouds. They're pretty calming." He said softly has his right hand shook in pain.

"Naruto...what are you doing?" Jiraiya frowned as he walked up to the resting blond.

"I'm taking a break Ero-Sennin." He frowned back. "My hand is throbbing and cramping and I need a minute to rest, okay?" he growled.

Jiraiya sighed. "Alright. I told you this wasn't going to be easy kid. The jutsu can really take a toll on someone's body. Trust me."

Naruto sat up, staring at his sensei. "Your hand cramp up too?"

Jiraiya nodded. "And I had circulatory problems for a while."

Naruto's eyes widened. "What?! This jutsu could cause circulatory problems?!" Naruto thought a moment. "What's circulatory?"

Jiraiya face palmed. He took a deep breath and spoke. "Your circulatory system, or cardiovascular system, allows your blood to circulate and transport nutrients, oxygen, blood cells, and other vital things through your body."

Naruto's eyes widened. "So...you had blood problems?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "Sort of. My blood circulation would fluctuate. I would either have too much blood flow and end up face first in the dirt, or have too slow of a flow...and still be face first in the dirt. But it wasn't just my blood that became a problem. My chakra system had problems as well. My chakra coils shrunk and my chakra flow became weak."

"So...you're saying it stops vital circulation?" Naruto said in horror. "Why are you teaching me this jutsu?!"

"Calm down brat! I don't think you'll suffer the problems I had. With the Kyuubi residing in you, you won't have to worry about your chakra coils shrinking, and with your Uzumaki vitality your circulatory system should be fine." _'I hope...'_ Jiraiya thought grimly.

Naruto sighed in relief. 

"_**Chakra wise, you're fine Kit. As if I would let you shrivel your coils into nothing."**_ Kyuubi scoffed.

_'Aaw you really do care.' _Naruto thought sarcastically. Naruto took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Alright Ero-Sennin...I've been at this stupid rubber ball for five days and I haven't made any progress. I've barely stretched the ball out." He said with a defeated tone.

Jiraiya chuckled and grabbed Naruto's shaking hand. He placed his finger in the center of Naruto's palm. "Focus your chakra here."

Naruto blinked. "What do you mean?"

Jiraiya sighed. "Do I have to spell out everything?"

"_**I know the feeling pervert."**_ Kyuubi grumbled.

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled at both of them.

Jiraiya shook his head. "Alright, put it this way. When you have a buildup of energy in a specific spot, what will it eventually do?"

Naruto blinked, still confused at the question.

Jiraiya sighed in annoyance. "Okay...say you had a massive build up inside this ball. Like all this energy is building up, causing a lot of pressure inside of the ball. What will the ball do?"

"Explode." Naruto stated.

"Exactly." Jiraiya smirked. "So all you have to do is build up your chakra in one spot, to where it will continue to build, causing so much pressure in the ball that it will eventually explode."

Naruto smirked. "Alright, I think I got it." He looked at his hand and frowned. "Is there any way to get the shaking to stop?"

Jiraiya sighed. "Why don't you take the rest of the day off to rest. Replenish your chakra and come back to training tomorrow."

Naruto didn't need to be told twice. He got up, thanked Jiraiya and ran back towards the village. As he neared the gate, he saw a swaying figure staggering towards the village.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled as he ran up towards the figure.

The figure didn't stop. As Naruto got closer, he noticed that it was a girl. She had short, silver hair that fell just above her shoulders. Her clothes were torn, she looked to have cuts and bruises all along her body. He rushed towards the girl and moved in front of her. Naruto's eyes widened as he looked into the girls' eyes. They were an eerie yellow; but they were dazed and out of focus.

Naruto gently placed his hands on the girl's shoulders, trying to snap her out of her daze. "Hey...you okay?"

The girl's eyes came back into focus and she swung at Naruto with a kunai. Naruto jumped back and hissed in pain. She got a good cut in on his bicep.

When the girl jumped back, she winced and fell to one knee. "D-Dammit..."

Naruto approached the girl again, who was holding her kunai up defensively. "I'm not going to hurt you. I was trying to help you."

The girl glared. "Who are you?"

"Uzumaki Naruto. Who are you?" He frowned.

The girl looked over the boy before answering. "Kokone. Suzuki Kokone."

"Well Kokone, what are you doing in Konoha?" He said crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm here to see the Hokage. I have to warn him." She said trying to stand, only to fall again.

Naruto sighed and moved closer to the girl and knelt in front of her. "You're hurt. Let me take you to the hospital first."

"No...I have to warn the Hokage." Kokone hissed. She managed to stand up and move to the gate. After four steps, Kokone fell to the ground.

Naruto rushed over to the girl. Seeing she had passed out, Naruto picked her up and rushed into the village. As he ran through the village, faces whizzing passed him. He nearly ran into Shikamaru at one point.

"Oi Uzumaki! Watch it!" Shikamaru frowned.

"Sorry Shikamaru! I'm in a hurry!" Naruto called.

Shikamaru stared at the running blond and noticed a girl in his arms. _'Well...that's not odd.'_ Shikamaru decided to follow Naruto, at his own leisurely pace of course.

Naruto burst into the hospital, looking around frantically for a doctor. "Help! Please!"

Several nurses rushed forward, staring at Naruto.

"What did you do?" One nurse spat.

"I didn't do anything. I found her outside the village. She was already unconscious." Naruto lied, but he didn't care at this point.

The nurse stared hard at Naruto for a moment before grabbing a gurney. The nurses quickly rushed Kokone towards the back of the hospital. Naruto went to follow, but was stopped by another nurse. "Hey! I want to make sure she's okay."

"I don't think so. You'll contaminate the room." the nurse frowned. "So please...have a seat. We'll tell you her condition later."

Naruto frowned but did as he was told. The cut on his arm was already healing thanks to the Kyuubi. After a few moments of waiting, Naruto noticed the lazy ninja walk into the hospital and sit next to him. "Shikamaru? What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same thing. Who that girl was? You gunna tell me?" Shikamaru stated boredly.

Naruto sighed. "Well...all I got was her name. I don't know where she came from or really who she is...just that she said she needed to warn the Hokage." Naruto explained.

"Warn him about what?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"No clue." The bond sighed.

The two boys waited in the waiting room, not saying much to each other. Naruto, tired of the silence, spoke. "How's your training coming?"

"It's not."

Naruto blinked. "Having trouble with a new jutsu or something?"

"No. I've been spending my time watching clouds." Shikamaru said with a happy sigh. "Clouds have a much better existence than us, just leisurely floating in the sky; not a care in the world."

Naruto chuckled. "I watched clouds this morning. It's pretty relaxing, I'll give you that."

"That Suna girl has been bothering my cloud watching." Shikamaru frowned. "I haven't had a relaxing moment in a week."

That got Naruto's attention. "Seriously? Why is she bothering you?"

"Well...the first two days she tried to strike up a pre-game spar, but the clouds were my top priority. I could care less about my upcoming match." Shikamaru shrugged. "After that, she would just come, sit and stare at me, wondering why the clouds were so fascinating. Yesterday...she actually laid down and watched clouds with me." He frowned.

Naruto blinked. "Well...I don't trust those Suna nin but...you sound like...you liked that." Naruto smirked.

Shikamaru's cheeks blushed slightly. "She's a troublesome woman...like the rest of them."

Naruto watched Shikamaru for a moment. He noticed Shikamaru go into his thinking pose, something he did whenever he was confused or needed to seriously think about something. Naruto chuckled and gave the Nara boy a comforting squeeze on his shoulder. "Don't think too hard about it Shikamaru. If something happens, let it happen."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at the blond. "Since when did you become the expert on love?"

Naruto blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well...I'm not. But I just recently went on a date with Hinata-chan, and I realized that I shouldn't hide my feelings."

Shikamaru gave Naruto a skeptical look. "Don't take offense if I don't take your advice."

Naruto chuckled and slapped Shikamaru on the back. "None taken. But seriously...don't think too hard on it."

Naruto looked up and saw a nurse approaching them. He stood up, looking a little worried. "How is she?"

The nurse approached Naruto with a disgusted look. "It's none of your business, demon."

Shikamaru glared at the nurse. He was seriously wondering why Naruto was still being called a demon.

Naruto frowned. "Listen, I brought her in because I was worried about her. The least you could do is tell me her condition." He growled.

"_**You know...you could let me out so I can eat her. I bet she tastes delectable."**_ _Kyuubi_ chuckled, licking his lips.

"_You know I can't do that...but trust me...I'll keep that option open."_ Naruto frowned.

The nurse frowned at Naruto, grabbing her chart at the nurses station. "Currently she is in stable condition and resting. She has some lacerations, bruises, and several cracked ribs. Aside from that, there are no other physical injuries. However...there is evidence of long term physical abuse."

Naruto's and Shikamaru's eyes widened. "Abuse?" Naruto gasped.

"What kind of evidence is there to support this?" Shikamaru asked, starting to think about what kind of situation this girl was in.

The nurse frowned. "You know, it's awfully suspicious that you brought this battered girl in here. Were you keeping her prisoner, you little demon?"

Naruto growled. "I didn't abuse her and I wasn't keeping her captive. We're worried about her." He ground out. It took almost everything he had not to wipe that stupid smug look off her face. "Shikamaru can you go to the Old Man and see if he can come here? She wanted to talk to him."

A new nurse approached Naruto. "I'll take over from here." She said, taking Kokone's chart.

Shikamaru nodded and left the hospital.

Naruto turned back to the new nurse. "Now...what kind of physical abuse did she have?"

The nurse looked back at the chart. "She has markings on her wrists where she was obviously bound. She also has stretched ligaments and joints popped out of socket from being bound for extended periods of time. She also had past fractures and breaks that have also healed. Who ever had this girl, had her as a prisoner." The nurse sighed.

Naruto frowned. _'Who would do something like that?'_

"_**Look into it Kit. She had a hitai-ate; see what village she came from."**_ Kyuubi said boredly.

_'Good idea.'_ Naruto looked to the nurse, his gaze a little less harsh. "Thank you. Did she have anything on her? Weapons? A hitai-ate? Anything that could identify where she came from?"

The nurse raised an eyebrow. "What are you? A detective?"

Naruto frowned at the nurse. "Look...I'm trying to help her out...okay? She was stumbling to the village wanting to talk to the Hokage. So yeah...if I have to play detective to get some answers...I'll do it."

The nurse moved behind the lobby desk and pulled out a bag holding Kokone's things. "Here."

Naruto thanked the nurse for her things and walked down the hall where Kokone's room was. When he reached her room, he saw the silver haired girl sleeping. She had several bandages visible, and IV in her arm.

Naruto looked through the bag of Kokone's items. He saw her torn and ripped clothing, her weapons pouch, and her hitai-ate. "Perfect." He inspected the hitai-ate and realized that it was from Otogakure. But her hitai-ate had a slash going through it's symbol.

"She's an Oto nin..." He looked up at Kokone, who was staring right back at him. Naruto frowned at her, tossing the hitai-ate into her lap. "Care to explain why you're here?"

"I already told you, I need to speak to your Hokage." She frowned back. "Now get me out of this hospital gown, give me back my clothes, and get this stupid IV out of my arm!" She growled as she tried to rip the IV out.

"I wouldn't do that young lady." Came an older, tired voice.

The two teens turned their heads and saw Hiruzen standing in the doorway, Shikamaru behind him.

Kokone stared at the old Hokage and frowned. "Who are you?"

Hiruzen chuckled. "I heard you wanted to talk to the Hokage. What can I do for you?"

Kokone's eyes widened as she stared at the village leader. "O-Oh...I'm sorry Hokage-Sama. I didn't mean disrespect." She said bowing her head.

Hiruzen chuckled again. "None taken young lady. Now...what do you wish to speak about?"

Kokone stared at Naruto and Shikamaru. "Do they have to be here?"

Naruto frowned. "I'm not going anywhere. I think I should get to stay considering I brought you here."

"What do you want? A medal?" Kokone spat back.

Naruto growled. "You're just as bad as Sasuke-teme."

Hiruzen shook his head. "Enough you two." He turned to Shikamaru and gave the boy a soft smile. "Thank you for delivering the message Shikamaru. You're free to go."

Shikamaru waved at Naruto and left the hospital.

Naruto waved back and turned to Kokone. "Why are you here?"

Hiruzen frowned and pinched Naruto's ear. "Naruto, behave."

Naruto pouted and rubbed his sore ear.

Kokone smirked at Naruto's distress, then turned to Hiruzen. "Hokage-Sama, I'm here to warn you about an attack on Konoha."

Hiruzen's eyes widened. "I believe I must stop you there Miss...?"

"Kokone, Sir. Suzuki Kokone." She smirked.

"Kokone." He nodded. "I'm afraid this room is not safe to talk about classified information. I'll speak to your doctor and see about a quick discharge. Meet me at the Hokage tower. Naruto will escort you there." He said smiling down at Naruto.

"Aw man! Come on Old Man! I wanted to see Hinata-chan today!" He whined.

Hiruzen frowned. "You can see young Hinata later. Now, go find some temporary clothes for Miss Kokone."

Naruto grumbled and stomped out of the room.

Hirzen nodded at Kokone and went to find the girl's doctor.

After a few minutes, Naruto came back into the room. "Here." He grumbled, tossing the girl her clothes.

"What are these?" She frowned.

"Hey! It's what the nurses gave me, okay? You don't like it, wear your torn clothing." He frowned.

"Why are you such an ass?" She frowned, holding up the plain sweat pants and sweatshirt.

"I'm not. In fact I'm a pretty nice guy. But you've got such a bad attitude that it brings out the worst in me." He frowned. "I don't like dealing with angry, bitchy people. Especially when all I've done is try to help."

Kokone frowned. "I don't owe you anything." She grumbled. She looked towards the door when she saw her doctor. "Can I leave now?"

The doctor sighed. "I'm going to check a few things and you can go. Though you're going to need to sign yourself out. Do you know anyone that can help you during your recovery?"

Kokone blinked. "I have to have someone watch over me?"

"I would feel better knowing that someone is there to help you during your recovery. While most of your injuries were minor, cracked ribs aren't something you should play around with. If you overexert yourself, your ribs could get worse and break."

Kokone frowned. She looked towards Naruto, who scoffed at her. "No..." She sighed. "I don't know anyone who can-"

Naruto sighed. "I can help her. Me and my friends can make sure she takes it easy."

The doctor nodded and performed a quick exam; checking her vitals one last time, checking her pupils and vision, feeling her ribs to make sure they were setting and healing properly, and finally taking out her IV. "Alright. You just need to sign out at the nurse's desk and you're free to go."

Kokone nodded and watched her doctor leave. She turned back to Naruto. "Why did you volunteer to help me?"

Naruto sighed. "Like I said earlier I'm a pretty nice guy. I actually like to help people. And I'm pretty sure that doctor wouldn't let you leave if you didn't have someone to watch over you." He smirked.

Kokone stared at Naruto for a moment and sighed. "Get out."

Naruto frowned. "Hey! I was trying to help you and you just want me-"

"Oh shut up! I need you to get out so I can change into my awesome new clothes." She said sarcastically, holding up her sweats.

Naruto's face flushed. "O-Oh...sorry." Naruto quickly left and sat in the waiting room. A few moments later, Kokone came out carrying the bag of her belongings. "Ready?"

Kokone nodded. They walked up to the nurse's desk, Kokone signed her papers, and they left.

The walk between Naruto and Kokone was awkward. It was silent, and full of tension. Naruto tried to think of something to say, but nothing was coming to him. What could he say to someone who was sassy and sarcastic?

Naruto thanked God when he saw Hinata walking out of a small food market. "Hinata-chan!" Naruto smiled brightly. He quickly left Kokone's side and ran up to the Hyuuga girl. "Hey Hinata-chan! Whatcha doin'?"

Hinata smiled. "I'm looking for some food. I'm thinking about cooking dinner tomorrow. Don't let Otou-sama know." She whispered.

Naruto chuckled. "I won't. So...listen. We had our first date last week and...I was wondering...the next time we both had days off maybe we-"

"Hey blondie! Hurry up! I need to get to the Hokage tower!" Kokone yelled.

Naruto frowned over his shoulder, sticking his tongue out at the silver-haired kunoichi. "Calm down!" Naruto sighed and turned back to Hinata. "Sorry Hinata-chan."

"Who's that?" Hinata asked, trying to hide the jealousy in her voice.

"Her name's Kokone. I found her outside of the village, hurt. She needs to talk to the Old Man about something pretty important. Want to come with us?" Naruto asked, almost pleadingly.

Hinata nodded. "Of course, Naruto-kun."

The couple returned to Kokone, Hinata standing very close to Naruto. The Hyuuga put on a gentle smile, nodding to Kokone. "Hello Kokone-san, I'm Hinata."

Konoe shrugged. "Yeah. Hey. Hi. Listen, I really need to talk-"

"To the Hokage." Naruto frowned. "I know. You could at least be nice to Hinata-chan. She's trying to be nice to you."

Kokone sighed. "Sorry." She grumbled. "I'm just in a hurry, it's really important."

Naruto nodded. "Fine, let's go." The trio continued walking, Naruto giving Hinata an apologetic look.

Hinata smiled softly, signaling she was fine.

The three teens made it to the Hokage Tower rather quickly, and ran right into his office.

"Hey Old Man. We're here." Naruto nodded.

Hiruzen nodded back. "Miss Hyuuga, it's a pleasure. Though I wasn't expecting you."

"I asked her to join us." Naruto said firmly. "Alright Kokone, you're here."

Hiruzen nodded. "Indeed. I've put up privacy seals, so we'll have complete privacy."

Kokone sighed in relief, looking at the aged Hokage. "Hokage-Sama...I've come to warn yout hat Orochimaru is headed to Konoha."

Naruto scoffed. "You're a little late. My team and I already fought him in the Forest of Death. Not to mention that he placed so messed up seal on Sasuke."

Kokone's eyes widened. "What? Did he bite him?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, he did. It really messed with him. But Kakashi sealed it, so Sasuke's better now."

Kokone frowned. "That seal won't last forever. If the desire for power fuels Sasuke, the curse will completely take over." Kokone sighed. "I've seen it happen to a lot of his subjects."

Hiruzen cleared his throat. "Suzuki-San, Have you been cursed as well?"

Kokone slowly nodded. "I was given to Orochimaru as payment." She sighed. "He invaded my village that was just outside of Getsugakure. You see...my family has a Kekki Genkai, a dojutsu just like sweet cheeks over there." She said motioning towards Hinata.

Hinata's eyes widened and blushed.

The Hokage blinked. "Really? May I ask what your Kekki Genkai is?"

Kokone shrugged. "I'm able to see a person's life force. Basically I can tell what element affiliation someone has, my senses are heightened, mainly my sight, hearing, and chakra perception."

Naruto blinked. "Chakra perception?"

"I can feel someone else's chakra from long distances, even those who are trying to conceal their chakra." She nodded. "It isn't the most obvious or amazing dojutsu, but it interested Orochimaru enough." She said sadly.

Hiruzen gave Kokone a soft smile. "Don't worry Suzuki-San, you are safe within these walls."

Kokone shook her head. "If Orochimaru's here, no one's safe. He's planning an attack, a big one." She frowned.

"How do you know this?" Hiruzen frowned, his soft expression quickly hardening.

"I over heard one of my guards talk about the attack plan. They weren't necessarily quiet about it either." Kokone scoffed.

"Are you sure they weren't being quiet on purpose? Like all of this is a trap?" Naruto frowned.

"I'm pretty sure they weren't telling me on purpose. The people that guarded my cell weren't necessarily smart. Strong shionbi, but definitely lacking upstairs." She smirked. "That's why I was able to escape."

Hiruzen nodded. "Suzuki-San...do you know when the attack is going to happen?"

"The day of the final exam...whatever that is." She shrugged. "Orochimaru has already executed his first part of his plan..." Kokone said solemnly.

"Which was?" Naruto frowned.

"He allied himself with Sunagakure and is planning to use Suna-nin to help with the invasion." Kokone said firmly. "I don't know much more than that, but I felt you should know."

Hiruzen nodded. "I must thank you Suzuki-san. Your information has been very helpful. Forgive me for requesting this, but I would like you to head to our interrogation department and speak with Ibiki and Anko to collaborate your story. While I feel you are truthful, one can never be too careful."

Kokone nodded. "I understand." She bowed to the Hokage.

"Naruto. Hinata. Please escort Suzuki-san to the interrogation department for me." Hiruzen said to the couple.

"Of course Hokage-Sama." Hinata nodded.

Naruto nodded as well and walked with Hinata and Kokone to Ibiki's office.

Hiruzen turned around in his chair and stared out at the village. _'Things just got a lot more dangerous.'_

**End Chapter**

**So? What did you think? Do any of you remember Kokone? If not, I'd suggest going back and reading some of my earlier chapters. Alright, so Kokone has informed Konoha of the attack. Can she be trusted? **

**Reviews welcome!**

**~Lu Lu-Chan25**


	22. Training for the Third Exam

Chapter 21

**Hey guys, Lu Lu-Chan here. I'm finally back, giving you a new chapter! **

**~PLEASE READ!~**

**Now...there's something I would like to talk about, something you've all probably read or heard about from other authors on the site. This story, _Change is Good, Right?_ Is a fanfiction. It is not 100% canon, it's not going to be 100% canon. I've been getting some people bitching and complaining about how "You didn't do this particular fight totally, 100% canon so this chapter sucks!" or "This wasn't how Orochimaru entered Konoha, so your story blows!" You don't like it, don't read it. It's not canon enough for you, go read the manga. If you can't enjoy a fanfiction as a fanfiction, then you are on the wrong website. **

**So I'm going to ask that when you review my story, or any other author's story, please keep in mind that we are writing our stories the way we see how the manga should have gone, or our interpretation of the story. We want to add our two cents in, and write our hearts out. Please don't degrade our writing because it isn't up to your standards. It's one thing to give constructive criticism, it's another to be rude and degrading. Again...you don't like it, don't read it. **

**Now, another little side note, I haven't read/watched most of the Shippuden series. So I don't really know how Naruto learned how to control the Kyuubi's chakra. (SPOILERS! I wrote that in this chapter) I tried to research it with the manga and some of the anime episodes, but it didn't give me anything good to go on. So I'm writing how I think it should have been done. If I did it completely wrong, please tell me how it was done. But do it in a tasteful, constructive criticism sort of way. Please don't be an rude about it. **

**Thanks for reading my small rant, and I'm sorry for disrupting your time with my rant. I'd like to thank my friend Chibiusa for editing my story. Please enjoy my newest chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

Naruto was sitting outside of the Interrogation Department with Hinata, waiting for Kokone. She had been there for more than an hour, and Naruto was getting impatient.

"Argh! How much longer is this going to take? Seriously! I just want to relax before I go back to training tomorrow!" Naruto complained, crossing his arms over his chest with a pout.

Hinata giggled at Naruto. "Ibiki-Sensei and Anko-Sensei have to get all the details in order, Naruto-kun. She also probably has to tell them about being held captive by Orochimaru." She said with a sad expression.

"That's exactly what I had to do." Kokone said as she approached the couple, followed by Ibiki and Anko.

Anko smirked at Naruto and Hinata. "Looks like you got yourself a girlfriend, brat. Congrats."

Naruto and Hinata's faces both went beet red and they looked away from each other. Anko laughed. "I'm only teasing brat."

Naruto grumbled and stuck his tongue out at the purple-haired bombshell. "Anyways...is she free to go?"

Ibiki nodded. "We didn't find any faults in her story. However..." He said looking at the former Oto-nin. "I'd feel better knowing you have several ANBU on you...at least until Orochimaru is caughtr."

Anko nodded. "Same. If Orochimaru finds out you're here, shit will hit the fan real fast."

Kokone nodded. "Should I lay low?"

Ibiki rubbed his chin in thought. "It would be a good idea, though we're going to suggest house arrest. Perhaps limiting outside exposure."

Kokone sighed. "I don't want to be cooped up in a house or an apartment all day long."

"Perhaps I can help." Hinata chimed in. Everyone turned and looked at the heiress. "The Hyuuga compound is really secure and has guards constantly patrolling the grounds. It's really safe, and if she wants to train or be outside, the compound is large enough for her to move around."

Kokone's eyes widened. "You'd...really let me stay with you?" She asked in disbelief.

Hinata nodded and smiled.

Anko smirked. "I think that sounds like a plan."

Hinata nodded. "Come on Kokone. Lets get you to the compound so you can get cleaned up and have some food."

Kokone was about to reply, but her stomach beat her to it. "Alright. Thanks Hinata..." She said quietly, and walked away with Hinata..

Hinata smiled and waved goodbye to Naruto, promising to see him later.

Naruto waved goodbye and turned to the interrogation duo. "Do you think she'll be safe?"

"None of us are safe while Orochimaru is in the village." Ibiki frowned.

Anko nodded. "I suggest you keep training, brat. There's nothing more you can do until the snake-bastard strikes."

The blond nodded and left the tower. As he walked through the village, he could wrap his head around everything that was going on. It was one thing to have to participate in the Chuunin Exams, but now he was having to deal with an unstable jinchuuriki, a traitorous snake-bastard Sannin who allied himself with said unstable jinchuuriki, all while training for the final exam. No pressure, right?

Naruto sighed and pulled the rubber ball out of his pocket. "I'm going to pop you...I'll pop you in three days." He smirked. He bounced the ball and caught it, now more determined than ever to master the Rasengan.

.

.

As Hinata and Kokone entered the compound, they were greeted by Hanabi. "Nee-San, Otou-Sama wants to see you. He says it's time for you to work on your training."

Hinata nodded. "Thanks Hanabi-Neechan. I needed to talk to Otou-Sama anyways." She hugged her sister and walked with Kokone to the sparring grounds. "I'm going to warn you Kokone-San...my Otou-Sama can be very...cold."

Kokone shrugged. "If I handled Orochimaru, I think I can handle your dad." She smirked.

Hinata chuckled. Once at the sparring grounds, Hiashi was finishing up with Neji.

He looked over to his right and saw his daughter approach them, along with a guest. He stood up straight and smoothed out his robes. "Alright Neji, we are finished for today. You have progressed very well."

Neji bowed and thanked his uncle. "Good afternoon Hinata-Sama."

Hinata smiled. "Good afternoon Neji-Niisan. Otou-Sama, before we begin our training, may I speak with you for a moment?"

Hiashi dismissed Neji and motioned for Hinata and her friend to approach. "Hinata...who is this? I didn't approve of company." He frowned.

"I'm sorry, Otou-Sama, but she has special circumstances." She said with a nod.

"Explain." Hiashi frowned.

Hinata nodded and told her father Kokone's story and how Ibiki and Anko agreed with her about staying at the compound.

Hiashi, who was a man of little emotion, was taken by the girl's story. He looked at Kokone, and turned back to his daughter. "I believe you made the right decision in bringing her here, Hinata. Show Suzuki-San to her room and the springs. Then return here for your training."

Hinata smiled and nodded. She bowed to her father and lead Kokone away.

"He didn't seem so bad." Kokone said softly.

"He's gotten better. He used to be so cold and judgmental. Since he found out Orochimaru attacked my team, he seems to be less harsh." She smiled. She would catch glimpses of the old Hiashi, the man he used to be before her mother died.

Kokone shrugged. "Again...thanks for helping me out. It's...hard for me to trust people. But you seem like a cool chick." She winked at Hinata.

Hinata chuckled. "Thank you Kokone-San. I would like for us to be friends."

Kokone's eyes widened. _'Friends? It's been awhile since I've heard that word...'_ She couldn't help but smile at the thought of having a friend.

Hinata stopped at a door and opened it. "This will be your room." She smiled. "It doesn't have a lot, but there's a large bed, and a closet. After you get cleaned up and settle in, perhaps we should buy you new clothes."

Kokone looked at her feet. "I...don't have any money to buy new clothes."

Hinata smiled and put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Don't worry about money. Consider it a 'Welcome to Konoha' gift. We can have your old clothes mended as well, if you want."

The yellow-eyed girl nodded. "Yes please."

"I'll lend you some of my clothes until we get you new ones. The bath is the last door at the end of the hall, and my room is right next to yours." Hinata pointed out. "If there's anything you need, let me know. I'll go grab you some clothes now."

Kokone nodded. "Thanks. Though I don't think I'll fit your clothes too well." She smirked.

Hinata blinked. "Really? We're about the same size."

"Yeah, but I don't have boobs like you." The former Oto-nin chuckled.

Hinata's face lit up and she covered her chest. "Th-they aren't that big!"

Kokone chuckled. "Yeah yeah." She watched Hinata rustle through her closet and pull out some clothes. Hinata handed Kokone a pair of black capri pants, and a lavender t-shirt. "It isn't much...but this will hold you over until we get you some new clothes."

Kokone smiled. "Thanks Hinata. I'm going to take my bath now."

Hinata nodded and went back to her father to continue her training.

.

.

Naruto was sitting at Ichiraku's, eating ramen with Sasuke. He slurped down his third bowl of ramen, quickly ordering a fourth.

"You know...it's disgusting how much ramen you eat." Sasuke frowned.

"I don't see why you care." Naruto chuckled. "Hows training going?"

Sasuke smirked. "It's going well. With both Kakashi-Sensei and my brother teaching me, I've been learning quite a few new jutsus."

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah...Ero-Sennin has been teaching me a new one too. But it's giving me trouble." He grumbled. He quickly lit up when his ramen was placed in front of him.

"What's giving you trouble?" Sasuke asked, sipping some of his broth.

"Well...I have to add more power to my jutsu. I was trying, but it wasn't working at all. Ero-Sennin said to add power to one specific spot so it builds in power. I'll probably work on that tonight." Naruto smiled slurping on more noodles.

"Naruto-kun! Sasuke!"

Naruto and Sasuke turned and saw Hinata walking with a hooded girl, shopping bags in their hands.

Naruto smiled. "Hey, Hinata-chan! Is that...Kokone?" He said looking at the hooded girl next to her.

Kokone was wearing the clothes Hinata gave her, along with a black hoodie, with the hood over her head, and some sunglasses over her eyes.

"You look really suspicious, Kokone." Naruto snickered. His snickering quickly stopped when Kokone's fist connected with the back of his head.

"Shaddup Goldielocks!" She growled. "I'm trying to be inconspicuous."

Sasuke snickered into his ramen bowl.

"Find something funny, Mr. Doom-and-Gloom?" Kokone frowned, putting a hand on her hip.

"Yeah, actually. Dressing like a ninja would look inconspicuous. Dressing like you're about to rob someone...yeah...because that's so inconspicuous." He said sarcastically.

Kokone frowned. "Fine. I'll go change then." She grumbled, walking towards the closest restaurant with a bathroom.

Naruto chuckled. "Man...you match her sass for sass, Sasuke."

Hinata giggled. "She can be very forward."

"I'm not sassy, Dobe." He frowned and returned to his ramen.

Hinata smiled and sat next to Naruto, who took her hand in his.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the couple. "So are you two...like a thing now?" He said, motioning towards the hand holding.

Naruto and Hinata's faces went pink, but their hands never separated.

"Do I look inconspicuous now, Mr. Perfect?" Kokone said as she walked up to Ichiraku's.

Team 7 turned towards Kokone, and Sasuke's eyes widened. Kokone was wearing an outfit similar to the one she was found in. She was wearing a lavender, mid-drift vest, white shorts, light grey knee and elbow sleeves, black gloves, and black ninja sandals. Her hair was down, brushing the tops of her shoulders, and the sunglasses were off her face.

Sasuke couldn't stop staring at the girl. She had a thin but toned body, her hair was a shimmering silver, and her eyes...those yellow eyes just sucked him in.

Kokone saw Sasuke staring and smirked. "I guess this suits His Majesty's tastes."

Naruto looked at Sasuke and doubled over in laughter.

Sasuke's cheeks flushed. He threw money down on the counter and sulked away.

"Aw Sasuke! Don't be that way!" Naruto called, still laughing.

Kokone's eyes widened. "Wait...that was Sasuke? The boy Orochimaru targeted?"

Hinata and Naruto nodded. Kokone frowned, watching Sasuke's retreating form.

Hinata smiled and placed a hand on Kokone's shoulder. "Give Sasuke some space. He's a fairly private person, even now."

"He was even worse than this?"

Naruto chuckled. "You have no idea."

.

.

Two days had passed since Kokone's arrival, and Naruto had resumed his training with Jiraiya. He had managed to only make a small tear in the ball, not decimating it. Kyuubi was starting to get impatient with Naruto, wanting to start their training as soon as possible.

Naruto, who was working on another rubber ball, groaned as he listened to Kyuubi's complaints.

"_**If you don't start your training, you'll never defeat the Shukaku host."**_ Kyubbi growled.

"_I know, okay?! I'm not stupid! But I don't know how much my body can take right now. I'm only human!"_ Naruto growled back.

"_**Perhaps it's time to put the Rasengan on hold. Come back to it after some of our training."**_

Naruto frowned, but it might be a good idea. Working on the Rasengan this long was painful. _"I'll work on the Rasengan until Ero-Sennin comes back. Then I'll ask him."_

Kyuubi nodded. _**"That sounds reasonable. Perhaps training with my chakra could help you further your Rasengan.**_

Naruto thought about this. _"You're probably right."_

The blond continued with his training, trying to destroy the rubber ball in his hand, but only made a tear in the ball again.

After working on the rasengan for another thirty minutes, the blond noticed Jiraiya walking up to him. "Hey Ero-Sennin!" Naruto said, dropping the ball on the ground.

Jiraiya grumbled under his breath about how much he hated that name. He looked down at Naruto. "What is it brat? You still having trouble?"

"Eh...I'm getting the hang of it. But this isn't about the Rasengan. I think it's time you start training me on how to use the Kyuubi's chakra." He said with a smirk.

Jiraiya frowned. "You know...I'm still not comfortable teaching you that." He may have lost the bet, but toying with a bijuu's chakra...wasn't something he was okay doing.

"It's only fair, Ero-Sennin." He frowned. "Besides...it's not like I'm gunna let the Kyuubi out and run a muck through the village." He growled.

"_**You're sure you don't want to let me have some fun, Kit?"**_

_'Yes, I'm sure. I'm not stupid, you giant furball.'_ Naruto snapped back.

"_**Could have fooled me."**_ Kyuubi scoffed.

Jiraiya looked at his godson and sighed. "Fine. But to be honest...I don't know how to do this. I haven't done this before."

Naruto nodded. "It's okay...Kyuubi said he'd help out."

"_**When did I say that?"**_ Kyuubi growled.

"_You said you would help me train in your chakra. Same thing."_ He shrugged. "So," He said looking up at his sensei. "What should we start with?"

Jiraiya rubbed his chin in thought. "Actually...I think you should have the Kyuubi train you himself, and I can observe and intervene if need be."

Naruto pouted. "Trying to skip out on my training?"

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "Whatever brat. This is out of my jurisdiction. Sorry."

Naruto frowned, but agreed. He said down, cross-legged and concentrated.

"_Alright Kyuubi. Where do we start?"_

"_**Well...technically it's already started." **_ He smirked.

"_What do you mean?" _Naruto asked, obviously confused.

"_**I've been slowly leaking my chakra into your system for years." **_Kyuubi shrugged._ "**You're going to have to start with that chakra first."**_

Naruto nodded. _"So...what do I do?"_

"_**Meditate. You have to bring out the chakra and encase your body with it. You need to get used to the feeling of my chakra dominating your own."**_ Kyuubi explained.

Naruto nodded again. _"Alright...and then what?"_

"_**Once your chakra has accepted mine, the two chakras will fuse together and become one. This won't all happen at once. It'll be slow and could take quite some time." **_

"_Will it hurt_?"

"_**It won't hurt, but you'll feel hot, almost like you have a fever."**_ Kyuubi explained. **_"I must warn you, Naruto...my chakra could have some terrible side effects."_**

"_Like?"_ Naruto asked hesitantly.

"_**My chakra could make you crave for more. If you try to forcefully take my chakra when your body isn't ready, you'll end up just like you were when you fought Haku. Power is a tricky thing, Kit. Where there is light, there is also darkness. You'd be wise to remember that." **_Kyuubi warned.

"_So basically you're saying...if I crave too much power I'll go to the dark side?"_ Naruto questioned.

"_**In simpler terms, yes."**_

Naruto nodded. _"I won't crave your power. I'll make sure of it."_ The blond took a deep, slowly letting it out. _"Okay...I'm ready."_

Naruto waited for the heat the Kyuubi said would come, but he didn't expect it to hit him full force. He felt like he had just nose dived into the center of the sun. His body instantly broke into a heavy sweat.

The Kyuubi's red chakra burst forth from the boy's central chakra system, then spread throughout his chakra coils. Naruto's blue chakra seemed to be fighting the Kyuubi's chakra, trying to push it away.

"_**Don't fight it, Kit. Let my chakra become one with yours."**_ The fox said cooly.

Naruto tried to relax, taking deep breathes as his body heated up. Naruto's blue chakra stopped fighting the Kyuubi's chakra, the Kyuubi's chakra infusing itself with Naruto's.

The blond grit his teeth. "It burns..." He hissed in pain.

Jiraiya watched his godson with fascination. He knew if he tried to interfere, it might end up disastrous for the young Genin. "Bare through it, Naruto."

"_**Yes, Kit. We are almost finished."**_ Kyuubi said firmly.

Naruto sucked in his breath, bearing through the pain.

Once the Kyuubi's chakra was completely infused with Naruto's, the boy let out a low groan.

"Ugh...that hurt..." He said rubbing his stomach.

"_**No pain no gain. Now...pop the ball."**_ Kyuubi commanded.

Naruto blinked._ 'Seriously? I just went through a fucking internal sauna and you want me to attempt the Rasengan?'_

"_**Just do it."**_

Naruto sighed and picked up the rubber ball. He held it in his hand and concentrated on it. He began turning chakra inside the rubber ball, adding power to the rotations. Within seconds the ball ripped apart as chakra exploded from the ball.

"I did it!" Naruto cheered.

"_**It's because of my power that you did it, Kit."**_ The Kyuubi yawned.

"_I know...but...now I can do it. Now I just have to practice more!" _Naruto was jumping up and down, celebrating his newest achievement.

"Alright brat." Jiraiya interrupted. "You may have succeeded the second task. But now you have to train more than ever."

Naruto looked over at his sensei and smirked. "Well then...let's get started."

**End Chapter**

**Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. As I said before, this story is a fanfiction. It's not going to be 100% canon. If you don't like it, or want it to be more canon, go read the manga. So anyways, please review!**

**~Lu Lu-Chan25**


	23. A Familiar Face

**Chapter 22**

**Hey everyone! How's it going? I hope you're all doing okay. So...good new! Today was my last day of finals! So, to commemorate such an event, I'm posting my latest chapter! **

**I want to thank my editor, Chibusa. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

Two weeks had passed since the Kyuubi's chakra fused itself with Naruto's. Naruto immediately felt the difference in his power level. It excited him but he heeded Kyuubi's warning and didn't use the chakra to its full potential.

_~FLASHBACK~_

"_I must say, brat. This new chakra is something." Jiraiya nodded._

"_Thanks Ero-Sennin. I've been slowly using more of the chakra, so I can get used to the amount of power." The blond nodded. "But I wanna see what I can do."_

_Jiraiya frowned. "I don't think it's such a good idea, kid. You aren't in control of that chakra yet, and it cause some serious problems."_

_Naruto waved Jiraiya off and grabbed an air-filled balloon, something he had been training with now that he had destroyed the rubber ball. He knew he couldn't pop the balloon, but controlling the rotation of the chakra, while maintaining its power was far more difficult than he expected. _

_Naruto held the balloon firmly in hand. He could feel the chakra inside rotating. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the amount of power he was putting inside the small balloon. The boy's eyes snapped open when he felt the balloon expanding. _

"_Uh-oh..." Before Naruto could stop, the balloon exploded, sending Naruto hurling backwards. _

_Naruto groaned as he pushed himself off the ground. "...Ow."_

_Jiraiya sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "What did I tell you, brat? You need to learn how to control this new chakra before you just...add power to anything. Especially the Rasengan."_

_~END FLASHBACK~_

Since that day, Naruto worked on his new found chakra. As he trained, he learned that he was too young and inexperienced to handle all of Kyuubi's chakra. Naruto understood. He worked those two weeks on his control, and now he was confident enough to use his new chakra. There were four days until the Third Exams, and Naruto was trying to get in as much training as he could.

Currently, he was working on the air balloons, trying to keep the rotating ball in check. He managed to create the rotating sphere of chakra inside of the balloon, but he couldn't hold it for very long, before his chakra tore it to shreds.

Jiraiya told him that if he could hold the jutsu for five, full minutes, he would be ready to perform the jutsu. Unfortunately, he was only able to hold the jutsu for two minutes before losing control.

Naruto watched his hand shake as he held the balloon in hand, trying to keep his focus on the sphere inside. He was almost to the two minute mark and he wanted to surpass it. He continued to concentrate, hearing the ticking of a clock near him. He closed his eyes, trying to stabilize his breathing to keep his control in check. As the clock continued to tick, Naruto's focus waned and the balloon ripped apart, the chakra whirling around his hand before disappearing.

"Damn it!" Naruto groaned. He looked over at the clock and noticed he held the jutsu for almost three and a half minutes. "I'm getting there, at least..." He sighed. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to continue practicing the Rasengan today. While he had made a lot of progress, he was tired and his hand was trembling. He looked up towards the sky and noticed it was still early in the afternoon.

_'I think I'll visit Hinata-Chan.'_ He thought happily. _'I haven't seen her in a while.'_

"_**You saw her last week."**_ The Kyuubi yawned. **_"And the week before that with that Orochimaru-reject."_**

Naruto frowned. "Yeah, well...last week doesn't really count. I only saw her for a few moments with her younger sister while they were shopping. With our crazy busy training schedules, I haven't even gotten to take her out on another date." He said with a small pout.

Kyuubi yawned. _**"Whatever. I suppose you deserve some sort of a break. I must say, I'm impressed with how well you've learned to control your chakra."**_

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he walked back into the village. "You're actually impressed with me?"

"_**I can see how much work you've put into it. So, yes...I am impressed."**_ The beast chuckled.

Naruto couldn't keep the smirk from creeping up on his face. When he finally entered the village, he made his way to the Hyuuga compound. As he made his way to the compound, he saw Rock Lee approaching him...on his hands?

Naruto walked up to the odd ninja curiously. "Hey Lee...what are you doing?" Naruto asked.

Lee, who was covered in sweat and appeared to be struggling, looked up at Naruto. "Naruto-San!" Lee said cheerfully. Using his hands, he pushed himself up onto his feet. "How are you my youthful friend?" He asked exuberantly.

Naruto smiled. "I'm doing good. I'm taking a break from training to go see Hinata-Chan." He said happily. "So how come you were walking on your hands?"

Lee smiled. "You see Naruto-San, I was training earlier and I told myself if I could not do 10,000 punches then I would do 100 laps around Konoha on my hands." He smiled brightly.

Narutos eyes widened. "10,000 punch...100 laps around...are you insane?!" He screamed.

Lee laughed. "I am as much sane as you are. When I train, the Flames of Youth burn deep in my soul, and makes me feel like I am complete." He nodded firmly. "It is the way I must push myself, so the Flames may continue to burn fiercely." He smiled again.

Naruto shrugged. "Alright Lee. Whatever you say." He chuckled slightly. "Good luck with your laps."

"Farewell Naruto-San! May you have a pleasant visit with Hinata-Hime!" He shouted and returned to his position on his hands.

Naruto waved goodbye to the strange ninja and continued on his way to the Hyuuga Compound. Naruto approached the familiar compound and smiled at the two guards. "I'm here to see Hinata-Chan."

The guards nodded and let Naruto inside. "She is in the back, training."

Naruto nodded. "Thank you." He entered the compound and headed towards the back. As he neared the training ground, he could hear Hinata's voice. He smiled and rushed towards the grounds and saw his teammate – girlfriend...date person...in her Jyuuken Stance, covered in dirt and sweat. Across from Hinata was an elder Hyuuga woman.

"It appears you have a visitor, Hianta." The old woman said softly.

Hinata blinked and looked over towards Naruto. Her eyes lit up and she smiled brightly. "Naruto-Kun!"

"You are done for the afternoon, Hinata. You may relax for the rest of the day." The woman nodded.

"Thank you Holo-Obasan." She smiled and bowed to her great aunt. She ran over to Naruto and threw her arms around him.

"Naruto-Kun!" She cried. "I've missed you!"

Naruto smiled. "I missed you to, Hinata-Chan."

"What are you doing here?" She said, pulling away.

"Well...I was wondering if you'd want to go out." He smiled and nodded. "We can go grab some cinnamon buns."

Hinata blushed and smiled. "I'd love to go out, Naruto-kun. But would you mind waiting a little while? I'm not clean right now." She said, somewhat embarrassed.

Naruto chuckled. "That's fine. I'll see if I can find Neji while I wait."

Hinata smiled and left Naruto to take a quick bath.

Naruto decided to go find Neji, but ran into Kokone instead. She was sitting by a small koi pond, slowly dragging her finger through the water. Naruto blinked and approached the silver-haired girl.

"Hey Kokone." Naruto smiled. "What's up?"

Kokone shrugged. "Nothing. Just...bothering the fish."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What? No back-sass today?"

Kokone turned back and frowned. "Oh shut up, Blondie. I don't feel like dealing with any bullshit today."

Naruto moved over to the girl, sitting next to her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Go away." She frowned.

Naruto frowned back, but didn't move.

Kokone sighed loudly, annoyed by Naruto's persistence. "Fine...I spoke with Mr. Doom-and-Gloom."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Sasuke? What'd you talk to him about?"

"About what Orochimaru did to him." She said in almost a whisper. "He told me what happened to him in the forest, and...I told him about my time in captivity." She sighed.

Naruto nodded. "I'm guessing it was hard for you to open up." He said comfortingly.

Kokone nodded. "I hate feeling weak. Orochimaru exploited every weakness I have." She said pulling her knees to her chest.

Naruto nodded. "I understand. But...this is what will make you stronger." When Kokone raised an eyebrow at him, Naruto elaborated. "Take Sasuke for example. Sasuke had a terrible childhood. His brother was forced to kill his clan and family. Sasuke even his parents being murdered."

Kokone's eyes widened. "His brother...was _forced_ to kill his family?"

Naruto nodded. "Long story. Something Sasuke should tell you himself. Anyways...Sasuke was so blinded by his hatred for his brother, that he refused to let anyone in, or let anyone help him. It wasn't until I revealed a SSS-Class secret, that he was finally able to let go off all that rage and let people in."

Kokone looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You revealed a SSS-Class secret?"

"Yeah...definitely not my best move. But it was completely by accident. In fact I found the secret by accident." He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "But still...it was because Sasuke let go of the hatred and rage and hunger for power that he was finally able to heal. I think you should let it go too." He nodded. "I know you hate Orochimaru. Hell, everyone hates him here." He nodded again. "But letting that anger and hatred control your life, and not wanting to appear weak will only hold you back." Naruto smiled. "Let someone in. Let someone help you overcome this, and you'll be able to heal a lot faster."

Kokone could only stare at Naruto in amazement. Here was this...derpy kid, giving her such meaningful advice. And he was right. Kokone nodded. "How did you get to be such a wise kid?" She asked curiously.

Naruto chuckled. "Well...I haven't had the best life either."

Kokone blinked. "Care to share your life story too?"

Naruto smiled softly. He still had some time. Naruto took a deep breath and told her stared at Naruto with wide eyes. How could he be the way he was after everything that happened to him?! And having the Kyuubi no Yoko sealed inside of him? What the hell?!

"Just because all these terrible things happened to me, doesn't mean it defines who I am. But it shaped me to who I am today. I wanted to prove the villagers wrong that I'm not who they think I am. I'm pushing myself each and every day to get stronger so I can protect this village with everything that I am." Naruto smiled.

Kokone nodded and looked back at the koi. He was right. Just because she had a terrible past, it didn't mean it defined her. She would work to shape her own life and her own future. "...Thanks Blondie." She smiled.

Naruto chuckled. "No problem, Kokone."

"Naruto-kun." Came Hinata's soft voice from behind him.

Naruto turned around and smiled. "Hey Hinata-Chan. You ready to go?"

Hinata nodded. Naruto stood up and walked up to her. "See ya, Kokone." He said back to the girl.

Hinata said goodbye as well, and the couple left.

Once they were outside the compound, Naruto took Hinata's hand in his, and walked towards Hinata's favorite bakery. "How's training going, Hinata-Chan?"

Hinata smiled. "It's going very well. Holo-Obasan and Haru-Ojisan are pushing me very hard." She nodded. "I've even learned some new techniques."

Naruto blinked. "Really? Care to share?" He smiled.

Hinata giggled. "Well...I'd like for it to be a surprise. Even Neji-Niisan and Otou-Sama don't know what I've learned from them." She smiled.

Naruto nodded. "I can't wait to see it then."

The couple made it to the bakery, where Naruto bought them some cinnamon buns. Naruto took a bite and hummed happily.

"So Naruto-Kun. How's your training going?" Hinata asked before taking a bite of her own pastry.

"Pretty good." He smiled. "I've finally got the Rasengan down. But now Ero-Sennin is working on my stamina with the jutsu. Ero-Sennin said if I can hold it for five minutes, I'll have the technique down. But it's so hard." He grumbled. He took a large bite of the sticky bun, and sighed. "I almost wonder if I'll ever get it down."

Hinata placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "You'll have that jutsu mastered, Naruto. You always pull through." She smiled.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah you're right."

"Naruto-San. Hinata-San." Came a soft, feminine voice.

Naruto and Hinata turned from each other and saw a familiar girl.

"Haku!" Naruto beamed.

"Haku-Chan! What are you doing here?" Hinata asked happily.

Haku approached the couple with a smile. "I've come to see the Chuunin exams. I received a letter from Kakashi-San to witness the competition." She nodded. "He said that you two, along with Sasuke-San are a part of the competition."

Naruto nodded. "Yup! I'm so glad you could make it Haku!"

Haku giggled. "As am I."

"How are things in Wave, Haku-Chan?" Hinata smiled.

"Quite well." Haku smiled. "Wave has definitely become much more cheerful since you were there." She nodded. "Ever since Gato was captured and the bridge was finished, more countries have been wanting to trade with Wave. It's made us more rich and diverse."

Naruto smiled. "That's awesome. How are your ninja recruits?"

"They're doing quite well. Even Inari has shown potential, though I believe he wishes to work with his grandfather more." She nodded.

"How is Inari and his family?" Hianta asked.

"They're doing well. Tazuna has been hired by Rice Country to help construct a bridge there. Gato's riches were spread throughout the village, Tazuna and his family receiving a good portion of it. Tsunami expanded their home and started an inn for all the new traders coming into Wave." Haku explained.

"Wow...they're doing all so well." Naruto smiled. "I'm so glad things are going well for Wave."

"Oh...I almost forgot. I have another guest coming to see your guys' fights." She beamed.

Hinata blinked. "Oh? Is it Tazuna and his family?" 

Haku giggled. "We'll see. I want to keep it a surprise."

Naruto pouted. "Oh Haku! You're no fun."

The trio giggled. "Say." Naruto started. "Why don't we go pick up Sasuke, Kokone, and Kakashi-Sensei and all go out to dinner? We can all catch up. I'm sure Sasuke and Kakashi-Sensei would love to see you again." the blond suggested.

"That's a good idea Naruto-kun." Hinata smiled.

Haku nodded. "Sounds lovely. But who's Kokone?"

Naruto filled Haku in on who Kokone was as they went to pick their friends. Once their friends and Sensei were with them, they all went to Ichiraku's to catch up.

"So Haku," Kakashi said with his signature "U" eye. "How's Wave?"

"Well Kakashi-San...it's such a wonderful village now that Gato is gone. I never realized how beautiful it was." She smiled, quietly slurping up some ramen noodles.

"Well...it's great to see you again." Kakashi nodded.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah! I'm so glad you could make it to see the Chuunin Exams." He smiled.

Sasuke nodded as well. "I agree. I didn't believe we'd see you again for a while."

Haku giggled. "Well...I am very happy I am able to see my dear friends again."

Kokone, who had remained quiet, looked at Haku with soft eyes. She could feel it; she could tell Haku had been through a lot. But here she was...happy, healthy, and living life. Naruto was right about what he said...she needed to live her life without the fear of Orochimaru's shadow looming over her. She needed to let go and live.

"Lee! For the last time! I will not go on a date with you!"

Everyone turned towards the loud pinkette, who was walking next to a pleading Lee. "But Sakura-Chan-"

"NO LEE!" Sakura growled, trying to get away from the taijutsu ninja.

"Who is that?" Haku asked, looking at the confrontation with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah...Pinky over there looks like a total bitch." Kokone scoffed.

"She is..." Sasuke grumbled.

Naruto snickered. "She used to be a lot worse." the blond nodded. "I thought you were going hand-laps, Lee."

"I was Naruto-San! But then...I saw my beautiful Sakura-Chan, and I just had to speak with her."

Sakura ignored Lee, who was still following the girl like a lost puppy.

"Hi guys." Sakura smiled. She stood next to Sasuke, surprise surprise.

"Hello Sakura." Hinata smiled. "What are you doing today?"

"Well...I WAS helping Ino-Pig in her family's flower shop. I've been trying to get our friendship back on track..." She said with a slight blush. "But Lee burst in and started spewing love and flames of youth and blah blah blah. He ended up breaking several vases and Ino kicked me out." She said, glaring at Lee.

Lee looked down in shame. "I am truly sorry, Sakura-Chan! I even apologized to Ino-San! I offered to pay for the damages!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Just because said you're sorry, doesn't mean I will go out with you!" She growled.

Haku giggled. "I think it's honorable that Lee-San is willing to pay for the damage he caused." She said softly.

Lee looked towards the giggling girl and his eyes widened. Lee took a few steps forward and stood in front of Haku. She was...her long, black hair was flowing down her back, her chocolate brown eyes shining in the sunlight. A navy blue, short-sleeved kimono complimenting her gloriously pale skin. She was perfection.

Lee dropped to his knees, taking the hunter-nin's hand. "May I ask what this beautiful flower's name is?"

Haku giggled again. "My name is Haku."

"Haku...such a glorious name. Your beauty is parallel to none." He said kissing the back of her hand.

Naruto had to cover his mouth from spitting ramen broth over everyone. Even Kakashi, Hinata, Kokone, and Sasuke were trying not to laugh. This was too funny!

Sakura watched the scene with a raised eyebrow. This was...interesting.

Haku blushed and smiled. "Thank you Lee-San. I'm flattered."

Lee beamed at Haku. "If I may, my beautiful Haku-Chan, would you allow me to take you out once the Chuunin Exams are over?" He asked softly, not in his usual loud voice.

"Of course." Haku smiled.

Everyone's jaw dropped, even Lee's. He really wasn't expecting her to actually say yes! "Yes? Yes?!Yes!" He smiled, standing up. "I will be dedicating my match to you, my lovely Haku-Chan! I will see you soon, Haku-Chan!" He said running away, kicking his heels together in mid air.

Everyone turned and stared at Haku with wide eyes. "You seriously said yes to Lee?!" Naruto shouted.

Haku nodded. "He seems nice."

"Well he is but... it's Lee! He's so weird!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I can agree with that." Sakura mumbled.

Haku chuckled. "Well, I believe it will be fun."

The group turned back to their meals, Sakura bidding her goodbyes and going back to Ino's store.

.

.

After finishing their meals and catching up with Haku, everyone bid their farewells, leaving Hinata and Naruto alone.

"I'm so glad Haku came to Konoha." Hinata said with a tired smile.

Naruto nodded. "I'm glad too." He had Hinata's hand in his as he walked her back towards the compound. "I can't believe the Final Exam is only four days away."

Hinata nodded as well. "It's somewhat surreal."

"I really hope I don't have to fight you in the finals..." Naruto said quietly.

Hinata stared at the blond and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You have to promise me something Naruto-kun."

"What?" 

"If we are paired up to fight each other...you can't hold back against me." She said firmly.

"But...I could seriously hurt you..."

"And I could seriously hurt you." Hinata said softly. "I want to walk away from that fight knowing that we both gave it our all." She said with a firm nod.

"Hinata-Chan..." Naruto sighed. "Alright. If we have to fight each other...I won't hold back." He smiled.

Naruto and Hianta continued to the compound. Once there, Naruto stopped at the gate. "Well...I don't know if I'll be able to take you out again before the finals, Hinata-Chan."

"It's alright Naruto-kun. I had a wonderful time tonight." She smiled.

The two stared at each other, their faces slowly moving towards each other.

Their lips nearly touched...

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Naruto and Hianta screamed, separating in fear. They turned and saw Kokone giving them a cheeky grin. "Heeeeeeeeeeeey guys! 3"

Naruto glared daggers at the girl before turning back to Hinata. "I'll see you later, Hinata-Chan." Naruto leaned in and kissed Hinata on the cheek and quickly left.

Hinata watched Naruto leave before turning and glaring at Kokone.

"Aaaaaaaaaw what's the matter Sweet Cheeks? Did I spoil the moment?" Kokone smirked.

"I hate you so much right now..." She grumbled walking into the compound. She grumbled more hearing Kokone laugh behind her.

.

.

Four days passed and Naruto was with his teammates, staring up at the large stadium that was hosting the final exam.

"You guys ready?" Sasuke asked, shoving his hands in his pocket.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Naruto sighed. He was a little nervous about the exams. He still wasn't able to hold the Rasengan for five minutes. It depressed Naruto; working that hard to only fail in the end.

"Come on. Let's go inside." Hinata said, smiling at the boys.

The boys nodded, stepping inside the stadium. They walked to a covered waiting area that looked out onto the field. All the other contestants were already there, waiting for their fights to start.

Hayate, the proctor for the Preliminaries, was waiting with the competitors. With a cough, he looked at the children. "Looks like everyone is here. Let's get this started." Hayate shushined in a swirl of leaves, only to reappear in the center of the arena.

The awaiting crowd roared with applause, excited for the fights to begin.

Hayate coughed again, then waved his hand to get the crowd to settle down. "Today...ten Genin are here to prove their worth to earn the coveted title of Chuunin!" Hayate started. "Before we begin, please welcome the Fourth Kazekge of Sunagakure to Konoha!" The Jonin said, motioning towards the Kazekage sitting with Hiruzen.

The man, whose face was covered from the nose down by his green Kage robes, stood up and waved to the crowd.

The crowd cheered for the visiting Kage, though they were beyond eager for the first fight to start.

"Now...Nara Shikamaru and Temari, please come to the field." Hayate called.

Shikamaru grumbled about having to fight this "troublesome woman." He looked over towards the Suna kunoichi, who was staring at him with a look of indifference. The two shinobi made it to the arena, where Hayate was waiting for them.

Once they were situated, Hayate nodded at the two of them. "The First Fight: Nara Shikamaru versus Temari."

Silence filled the arena. They were all waiting for Hayate to give the word.

"BEGIN!"

**~ End Chapter**

**So? What did you guys think? Let me know what you thought in a review, okay?**

**So...just to let you guys know, I'm gunna need some ideas for my story. I have everything planned up to the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Once that's over, I have several ideas, but I don't really know if I'm gunna use any of them. So...give me some ideasguys! And if I do use an idea suggested, I will give full credit to the reviewer. **

**Anyways...thanks guys! See you next time!**

**~Lu Lu-Chan25**


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